Progeny of the Force
by The Hope Lions
Summary: One minute Anakin was walking alone through the Jedi Temple, and the next he was joined by a scavenger from Jakku, a Rebel pilot turned Jedi, and a murderous Knight of Ren. When the Force decides to change the future, apparently it doesn't do anything half-way.
1. Chapter 1

I was shocked to discover that while there are hundreds of stories with Luke going back to episode 3, and a couple with Rey doing so, there were none with them going back together. So here is my first real attempt at a multi-chapter Star Wars story. Tell me what you think! It's all written, so I'll be updating once a day for for the next 3 weeks as it's 20 chapters plus an epilogue. Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

Anakin Skywalker was his mother's child. There was only one thing he, and his decedents, inherited from the force-a disregard for logic and rules. To put it simply, the Force, like the Skywalkers, did what it wanted. And, because of that, everything fell apart.

Anakin walked through the Room of a Thousand Fountains, trying to process everything. He had killed Count Dooku, in cold blood. It was wrong, but he'd enjoyed it. He's enjoyed the power. He'd enjoyed the Dark Side.

As if that wasn't enough to fill the young Jedi's mind, Padmé's news would be. She was pregnant! He was to be a father! If anyone found out they would both be disgraced, and yet Anakin couldn't be happier. He was to be a father; everything looked different in light of the news. Stars burned brighter in the sky. Laughter cut deeper. The water, trickling from the fountains, seemed to hold all the Universe's potential. The Force flowed stronger, swirling around Anakin in a tangible way. He closed his eyes, taking in the gentle feeling, the loving comfort ,of the essence which bound all things.

Anakin felt a jolt. His eyes flew open, and everything around him had changed, literally this time. A young man, of about twenty-five sat on the ground, as if just stirred from a deep meditation. Beside him was a girl, not old enough to be considered a woman really, who held out a lightsaber, as if handing it to someone. Her face bore a startling resemblance to that of Padmé, and Anakin got the sudden ridiculous idea that perhaps this girl was his unborn daughter. Ridiculous.

He didn't think on it long though, because the third man set everything into a whirl of chaos. He wore dark robes, and had a fresh scar across his face. In his hands was a red lightsaber which slashed through the air with raging fury, cutting apart some invisible foe.

All four looked horribly confused, but it was Kylo Ren who acted first. All he knew was that Rey, the woman who scarred him, who beat him, who disgraced him, was standing right there, and so he acted. With a guttural growl, he swung his lightsaber at her. Any other person would have been cut to ribbons, unable to respond in time, but the Force flowed through Rey. She didn't have to have time to think about what she was doing. Her lightsaber ignited anyway.

The battle they began weeks ago, and long in the future, begun once again. The Corusant air was warm, but both Rey and Kylo Ren were cold. They felt the biting air of the Starkiller base whipping around them. All the time that had passed since they last met disappeared, and it was as if the base never crumbled. Rey felt Finn lying unconscious behind her, and Kylo's face burned from his new scar.

Luke and Anakin Skywalker were horribly confused. Luke had no idea where he was. Last thing he remembered was meditating on Endor, feeling the presence of his father, Yoda, and Obi-Wan's ghosts. Now one of those ghosts, now the young version of his father, was standing before Luke, not a ghost at all. Luke could feel his father's Force presence. It burned bright, brighter than Darth Vader's ever had. There was certainly darkness there, but it wasn't in control yet. This was Anakin as Luke had never known him. This was Anakin before he was Darth Vader. But how could that be possible when Anakin's fall happened a quarter of a century before the Battle of Endor? The Battle in which Luke fought. The Battle in which the man who stood before Luke, had died?

No, it certainly didn't make sense to Luke all. And, for that matter, neither did the young girl and vicious fighter before him. Anakin was as equally confused as his son, but neither took the time to question the world around them. Kylo Ren was fighting ferociously with a red lightsaber, and that was all Luke and Anakin cared about. If the man had a red lightsaber he had to be a Sith, and Sith had to be destroyed.

And so, without even knowing her name, Luke and Anakin Skywalker jumped to the defense of Rey. Kylo Ren was good, but against Luke or Anakin he would have lost, never mind them and Rey together.

Once Luke and Anakin's lightsaber's joined the fray it was all over. Anakin Force-pushed Kylo back, and the man slammed his head against a fountain, falling unconscious. It was pretty pitiful actually, and Anakin found himself disturbed by that. A Sith, even a Sith apprentice, should not go down so easily.

It was that realization that made Anakin look closely at his fallen enemy. The man was clearly surrounded by the Dark Side, but there was light there that hadn't been distinguished. There was probably the same amount of light in the fallen 'Sith' as there was darkness in Anakin, and that disturbed the Jedi Knight greatly.

Still, he had more important things to consider. The girl was panting, her fear flaring rapidly. Luke, at least, had a suspicion as to what had happened. He knew who Anakin was, even if it was an Anakin unlike the man Luke had watched die. Rey, Rey had no idea who either Luke or Anakin was. All she knew was that once minute she'd finally found the Jedi Temple, and was holding out the lightsaber, pleading with the Luke Skywalker to save the galaxy one last time, and then… and then she was in a room full of glistening fountains, with more water than she'd ever seen before, and Kylo Ren was attacking her. She'd fought back of course, but his wound from Chewie apparently had healed, because he was far more ferocious than the first time. Or perhaps he now just wanted her dead, and then had wanted to train her. It didn't matter. All that mattered was Kylo trying to kill her, and Rey fighting back.

She'd been grateful when the other two, Jedi apparently, had stepped in to help. Rey was untrained. The Force had guided her enough for her to escape on the Starkiller base, but, at his prime, Kylo Ren was as dangerous as they came. Rey would not have won alone.

"Thank… thank you," Rey stuttered out, assessing her odd companions. They looked similar, one a bit older than the other, but similar enough to be brothers definitely. They didn't act like brothers though. No, the distance between them implied to Rey that they didn't know each other at all. "You just saved my life."

Luke opened his mouth, but closed it without saying anything. Anakin, on the other hand, was never at a loss for words. "Right, um. I think we should all just turn off our lightsabers, put them on the ground, and kick them away. That way we can talk without any danger."

Rey hadn't even realized that she was still holding the lightsaber, and, after fumbling with the switch, turned it off, but didn't toss it away. "What's the point in tossing it when any of us could just call it with the Force?"

It was a good point, and one Anakin hadn't thought of, so he didn't press it. Instead he just turned his own off, and Luke did the same. With the weapons in a slightly less deadly state, the three breathed easier, but not for long. All three were aware of the crowd gathering about, and none knew what their explanation would be.

"You should lock him up," Rey finally spoke again, pointing to Kylo. "And if you have anything that can like block the Force within him or something you should do that because he will try to kill you when he wakes up…"

Even Luke, who didn't know nearly as much as a Jedi should, recognized that this girl knew nothing of the Force. And yet she yielded it well, and it flowed within her. It was, like everything else going on, remarkably odd.

"Okay," Anakin replied. Even if he didn't feel ready to trust the girl, which wasn't the case, he'd still have locked up Kylo. Red lightsaber did equal evil after all. _Perhaps they should use more normal colors, they'd blend in better._ Anakin mused despite it being what Obi-Wan would call an "inappropriate time".

Speaking of Obi-Wan… "Anakin!" His former master called breaking through the crowd of mostly younglings and padawans. "What is going on?"

"Ben," Rey heard Luke breathe out and she looked at the man oddly. Ben wasn't a common name, and yet this strange man knew it. But why was he looking at the newcomer and not the Sith who lie on the ground?

"Ben's right there, unconscious, remember?" Rey told the older man eyeing him. He looked vaguely familiar, but she didn't know how. Perhaps it was just those blue eyes, many people had to have those same, warm, eyes. "And how do you know his name's Ben Solo anyway? I didn't think anyone knew that?"

Luke's eyes practically bulged out of his head. "Ben, Ben Solo? But that would mean… Who are you?"

"That is what we'd like to know," Obi-Wan interrupted as a few of the Jedi Knights dragged Kylo away. "And what you will explain before the council, immediately."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The halls of the Jedi temple were silent. Each step the group made echoed against the plain walls. Each eye they passed turned away, pretending not to see, prodding the Force to know more. It sent an uneasy chill through Luke, who had much on his mind already. "You said his name was Ben Solo," Luke whispered to Rey. "Is he related to Han?"

Rey had to pull her eyes way from the temple. She'd never been anywhere like it in her life. The Starkiller was impressive, in an evil way, but this was extraordinary. There were arches everywhere, held up by pillars of stone. The rugs softly melted under her feet, giving Rey the sense that she walked on a cloud. And there were so many people! Rey felt the Force pulsing through them, through her. Incredible!

 _But also confusing_ , Rey reminded herself as she went to answer the man's question. "Han's son. You knew Han?"

The tense caught Luke's breath. No… Han couldn't be dead. Luke just saw him! He'd been standing close to Leia, whispering something into Luke's sister's ear. They'd looked so happy, so at peace. Han was not dead. "I know Han very well, but I didn't know he had a son." And how Han, who was probably forty tops, could have a son, who was at least twenty, but probably more like thirty, Luke didn't know. He suspected though. Considering his father and Obi-Wan stood before Luke, he suspected anything was possible. "Who is his mother"

Rey was hesitant to answer. This man claimed to know Han, but yet didn't know his wife? Still, Rey trusted him. She just knew she could trust him in the same way she'd known how to fight Kylo. Luke had such a trusting face, soft, and kind. Hardened by years of war, but still bright and smiling. And his eyes, the blue of the sky, beamed with hope. Rey could trust him with the truth. "Ben's mother is General Organa ."

Luke almost tripped he was so shocked. So it was true. His theory was true. "Leia?"

"You know her too?" Rey chucked at the man's reaction. His eyes were wide with fear and surprise. He sorta reminded her of Finn,actually, which made her sad. Finn was still in a coma.

"She's my sister."

He replied so simply it took Rey a moment to realize the ramifications of his confession. When she did though it was turn for her eyes to grow wide in shock. "You're Luke Skywalker!"

She spoke a bit too loud, and, hearing his name, Anakin looked back at the new arrivals. The man was shushing the girl, but with Obi-Wan right there Anakin couldn't get close enough to hear their words. He didn't like it, and the whispering made the Jedi knight wonder if his gut was wrong to say "Trust them".

"You can't be Luke," Rey whispered, studying the man. He did look sort of like the man on the Temple, if the past thirty or so never happened."I've met Luke. He's old."

Luke nodded at her words, his hypothesis confirmed. Somehow he wasn't shocked. Perhaps his brain was messed up by the Force lightning he'd endured earlier in the day? Still, the revelation, insane as it was, made Luke's present situation make much more sense. So, he sighed, and explained to the girl in the only way he knew how. "I think we've traveled in time."

Rey knew a thousand ways to say "You're crazy", but she didn't get to say one. Doors swung open before them and Rey found herself standing in another magnificent room. People of many species sat on simple mats, and the room was sparse besides that, but it held an air of power. And air of power and importance.

"Just let me do the talking," Luke pleaded suspecting she would not listen and everything would be more confusing for it. The determined light in her eyes reminded him of Leia, of her fight. She was almost certainly the type not to sit there silently. But he could beg her to be. "Please."

One of the men sitting spoke up before Rey could reply. "We heard something about a sith in the Temple. Master Kenobi, care to explain?"

Obi-Wan was taking his place as he shook his head. "I cannot. By the time I arrived, the apparent sith as unconscious. Anakin's doing I believe, Master Windu."

Mace Windu looked at the Jedi Knight as if to say 'Of course Anakin was involved'. He'd never liked the boy, never liked breaking the rules, the code, for the boy. But he was a talented knight, if arrogant for it. "Two siths in a day, that must be a new record."

"He wasn't a very impressive Sith," Anakin replied with a shrug. "Nothing like Dooku."

Rey hadn't survived on Jakku by staying silent while people spoke. She had to voice her opinions, or they would have just faded away. So she was unafraid to speak up before the crowd. "Kylo isn't a Sith. He wants to be like Darth Vader, but is nowhere near as strong. It's his biggest failure. "

"Darth Vader," a voice spoke from the doorway. Rey saw a little green man come in and sit down. "The sith we're looking for, he is?"

Rey looked dumbfounded. Were they all idiots? They looked old enough to have lived through the empire. How could they not know who Darth Vader was? "Darth Vader has been dead for thirty years."

"Master Yoda," Luke interrupted causing the Jedi Council to begin studying him. They saw a power with the Force that was beyond many of them, but it was barely refined. He had some training, it was clear, but not the kind a true Jedi received.

"Know me, you do," Yoda realized studying Luke. There was a training bond there, a training bond between Luke and Yoda, and yet Yoda didn't have the second half of that bond. Not yet at least. "Know you, I do not. Explain, you shall."

Luke nodded obediently. It was strange seeing his master alive. _Both of them actually_ , he realized eyes drifting to Ben, or well, Obi-Wan. "I believe we have been sent to the past. Me some thirty years perhaps, she sixty."

Only Yoda didn't look at Luke as if he was insane. Mace Windu actually said the words aloud. In their defense it did seem like a pretty insane possibility. "And yet I sense he's telling the truth," Luke smiled as Obi-wan came to his defense. He missed his first master dearly, even if they spent little time together.

But he had more important things to think about at the moment. Considering his options, Luke finally pulled off his glove. "I noticed your prosthetic arm Anakin. As you can see mine is more advanced. Twenty years more advanced."

It was pretty convincing, but they were talking time travel. They needed more than an arm to convince them that was possible. So Luke would give them more.

"When were you born," Luke asked turning to the girl who was sending off waves of confusion strong enough to knock someone over. He felt bad for her, truly, but she couldn't be helped until she believed.

"Some eleven years after the Battle of Endor." Her time on Jakku made it hard to know her actual birthday, but she thought that sounded about right.

Luke thought it did as well, for he smiled in response. "Eleven years after a battle which I saw end only a few hours ago. You know we tell the truth, you can sense it. What other explanation is there?"

"Stranger things have happened through the Force," Master Windu conceded. The Force said they were telling the truth, and he didn't fight the force. "Well, let's say it is true. What are your names?"

Rey liked that question. She knew how to answer it. "I'm Rey. The murderous one you picked up is Kylo Ren, but his real name is Ben Solo."

Luke didn't like to think about this Ben Solo, so he supplied his own name quickly. "I'm Luke." Only after saying beginning did Luke realize he needed to end it. He had to tell the truth, whatever trouble it might bring. He knew it needed to be said. "Luke Skywalker."


	3. Chapter 3

I really appreciate the response I've gotten. I hope this chapter doesn't muck it up too much!

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Chapter 3

Few had ever seen the Jedi Council in such an uproar. They all turned to Anakin, who'd backed away in fear. No. No it couldn't be possible. Padmé had only told Anakin that day she was pregnant. This man was older than Anakin! It couldn't… it couldn't be…

"Skywalker, are you related to Anakin? I didn't think he had any siblings."

He didn't. Luke knew that as well as they rest of them. He also knew that if he wasn't careful he'd set his father on a path far worse than that of Darth Vader's. "Anakin is my father."

"This is outrageous!" Master Windu cried, jumping to his feet. "Jedi are forbidden!"

Luke remained calm, a testament to his training, amid the chaos. "Please, let me tell you a story that I only learned a few hours ago myself. A story told to me by the ghost of my father, and Masters Yoda and Kenobi."

The other masters looked to Yoda, who nodded. He already had a sense that there was something going on between Padmé and Anakin. The news of a child being produced didn't surprise him too much. "Speak you shall," Yoda told Luke. "Only then, judge Anakin, we can."

"Thank you," Luke told them with a bow. He turned to his father, who looked both terrified, and happy, but had to look away. Luke found all their eyes too filled with expectations. One pair of eyes wasn't though, and so Luke found himself telling the story to Rey, perhaps the only one who would understand. "My father was born to a slave and no one else. He had no father but the Force. When he was just a child he managed to win his freedom in a pod race, and left his home planet of Tatooine with Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and a Padawan named Obi-Wan Kenobi. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had with them the Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo, though they did not know that the true Padmé was disguised as a maidservant. And so Anakin met Padmé, and thought her a beautiful angel."

"In those days there was a sith apprentice named Darth Maul who followed his master well. His master controlled the Trade Federation that terrorized Naboo. It was because of this master than Anakin met Padmé, but even the Sith did not realize how beneficial to his plans their meeting would be. No, Darth Maul's Sith master didn't know of Anakin or his Force potential until later, when my father was being trained by Obi-Wan in the ways of the Jedi. At that point Darth Maul was dead, and his master found a new apprentice in Count Dooku. He wished for a different apprentice though, one whose command of the Force was unparalleled. He wanted the incredible Jedi- padawan freshly picked from the deserts of Tatooine."

No one liked the sound of that, Luke felt their tension. But Rey held none. She listened intently, curious to heard the side of the story no one told. She never knew who Darth Vader was before he became a killer.

"A decade later and Anakin was a powerful padawan. Along with his master he was assigned to protect Padmé, now Naboo's senator. It was the beginning of the Clone war, and all Jedi were stretched thin. Obi-Wan left Anakin alone with Padmé and the two found that their love was unbearable. It was made worse as Anakin had been having terrible visions of his mother's death. He brought Padmé back to Tatooine with him, where he found his mother had been taken by Sandpeople. We went after them to save her, but it was too late. She died, and Anakin, filled with the Dark Side, killed all of them, even the innocents. Immediately he felt disgrace, but the Darkness was there. Padmé's light was all that made him feel better and so they married in secret."

Luke half expected his father to be arrested or something, but none moved. They held on to his every word.

"The Clone Wars were a terrible time, and the secret lovers were rarely together. But they were together the day Anakin returned to Corusant after killing Count Dooku at the urging of Chancellor Palpatine, Padmé told him that she was pregnant. It was the best day of his life, and the worst. He knew if anyone found out she would be removed from her position as senator and he would be banished from the Jedi order. And yet he loved his child, he loved his child desperately and wanted nothing more than to be the father he never had."

Everyone expected the story to be done, considering they'd caught up to the present, but Luke charged on.

"And then, one night, Anakin had a terrible vision. The Force showed him the death of his wife during childbirth. He knew a Jedi should not feel fear, that fear of loss was why attachments were forbidden, but he could not allow Padmé to die. So he turned to the only one he trusted-Chancellor Palpatine. The Chancellor told him the story of a Sith Lord who discovered a way to stop death. Anakin was desperate to save Padmé, and researched the ability, but found nothing."

"And then, one day, he realized the truth. Chancellor Palpatine, his friend, his mentor, was actually the Sith Master he'd spent so many years searching for. He ran to the temple with the news, and found Master Windu there. Master Windu set off with the best Jedi to stop Palpatine, but left Anakin behind. Anakin realized that they did not intend to just arrest Palpatine. He would be killed, and with him would die any hope of saving Padmé. And so Anakin rushed after them, and found himself faced with a choice. He could fight Master Windu and save Padmé, or let the Sith die, as it should be."

"He didn't have the strength to let go of his fear, and so he cut off Master Windu's hand, much the same way Count Dooku had done to him years earlier. Palpatine took the opportunity and struck at Master Windu with Force lighting, killing the Jedi master. Anakin knew what he had done. He knew it was unforgivable and he would never be redeemed. And so, he accepted Palpatine's offer to become a Sith apprentice, become Darth Vader, and Palpatine promised together they find a way to save Padmé."

"His first test, however, was a horrible one. Palpatine ordered all the Jedi killed. The Clones carried out his order, but it was Darth Vader who led the attack on the Jedi Temple. It was Darth Vader who slaughtered the younglings that flocked to him for protection."

"He returned to Padmé, but was sent by his master soon after to Mustafar to destroy the remains of the Separatist movement. Palpatine had been leading both sides of the war for years, but he was done with the shadows. While Darth Vader destroyed the Separatists, Chancellor Palpatine declared himself Emperor."

"Darth Vader was not entirely dark though. His love for Padmé and their unborn child persisted. Until Padmé showed up on Mustafar to try and reason with him. Obi-Wan had come to her, hoping to stop Anakin, save him before it was too late, but it already was. When Darth Vader realized Obi-Wan was there he choked Padmé to the brink of death, and then dueled his former master."

"It was the most terrible duel. Everything Anakin knew he'd learned from Obi-Wan, but Darth Vader had the power of the Dark Side. Darth Vader knew hate, and he hated Obi-Wan Kenobi. He hated the Jedi Code which kept his wife a secret. And he hated himself, for hurting the love of his life. That power strengthened him, and so the two fought as pure equals. Neither would have won, but Darth Vader was filled with pride. He attempted to jump over Obi-Wan, regain the high ground. Obi- Wan cut off all his limps, and watched as his former apprentice was engulfed by flames."

"Obi-Wan left his former padawan there to die, and escaped with Padmé. She was dying, not from anyone's actions, but because she lacked the will to live. Medical droids worked quickly to remove the children before she died. Anakin never knew his wife had their child, their twins, because Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan made it appear as if she was still pregnant when buried. The children, Luke and Leia, were separated for their protection. Leia was adopted by Bail Organa, and raised as a princess of Alderann. Luke was sent to his step-uncle Owen's, where he was raised with no knowledge of his family, but for his father's name."

"And that father fell in to the pit of the Dark Side, for he had nothing else, not after he killed his own wife and child, as Palpatine led him to believe. He was the Emperor's slave, killing without mercy, and controlling the galaxy with fear. Any trace of the young slave boy who just wanted to see the galaxy, was gone, hidden behind the life support systems that kept his injuries from Mustafar from killing him."

"And then, nineteen years later, a brave crew stole the plans for the Emperor's deadly weapon, the Death Star, designed to destroy whole planets at once. This crew was part of the rebel alliance that sprung up against the Empire, hoping to restore the republic. One member of that alliance was Leia Organa, the young princess of Alderann. She was captured transporting the plans, and tortured by Darth Vader, who knew not that she was his lost daughter. She managed to get a message to the one man her father always said would help- Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Her brother Luke was still on Tatooine, dreaming, as his father had, of flying away. Luke found the droids Leia sent begging for Obi-Wan's help. He brought the droid to the only Kenobi he knew, wacky Ben Kenobi the hermit. But Ben Kenobi was not wacky or a hermit. He was a Jedi in hiding, and he told Luke the truth, that his father, Anakin, had been a great Jedi, and that Luke could train and follow in his father's footsteps. Luke was afraid to go, but the Empire killed Luke's family while he was with Ben. There was no reason for him to stay. And so he followed Ben, where he met a great smuggler named Han Solo, and his copilot Chewbacca."

"They managed to rescue Leia, but Ben died in the process. His death was not in vain though. Luke managed to destroy the death star and join the Rebels. He fought with them for years, until he discovered that there was another Jedi-Master in the Degobah System. Luke found Master Yoda, and trained under him. He went back, though, to save his friends, and in the process discovered the true identity of Darth Vader. Darth Vader tried to turn his son to the Dark Side, but Luke would not be swayed. He returned to finish his training, and was told the truth about his sister. When he faced his father again, Darth Vader brought him to the Emperor, who tried to bring Luke to the Dark Side. But again Luke would not sway. It wasn't until Darth Vader threatened to turn Leia that Luke responded and fought his father, but Luke did not kill him. He refused to turn to the Dark Side, and begged his father to return to the light. Darth Vader did not, and stood watching as the Emperor tried to kill his son. But right before Palpatine's lightning killed Luke, Anakin Skywalker saved his son and killed Palpatine. He returned to the Light Side because of he loved his son. And he died for his son, knowing he should not be forgiven, but that he was."

"You see, Anakin Skywalker broke the Jedi code. His attachments led him to the Dark Side as everyone warned they would. But, his attachments also saved him, and allowed for him to fulfill his destiny as the Chosen One. So perhaps those attachments aren't so bad after all."


	4. Chapter 4

Confession time. I literally had never seen the movies until a week before I began this fic. In the past month I have literally been trying to catch up on 39 years of canon and legend, but I can only do so much. Thank you all for pointing out where I have been wrong, because I do not know. I am currently attempting to fix the whole time thing because apparently episodes IV and VI are only four or so years apart, not nine as I thought. Continue to point out those things I don't know and I will fix them. Oh, and enjoy!

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Chapter 4

Everyone remained silent for a moment, but finally Master Windu spoke to Anakin. "And is this true. Are you married to Senator Amidala? Did she reveal her pregnancy to you earlier this day?"

Anakin nodded slowly, looking as far away from Luke and Obi-Wan as possible. They were the only two whose judgement he couldn't face- the man he saw as a brother, and the man who claimed to be his son."Yes, everything Luke said is true. I don't know about the vision or anything after that though. The stuff that hasn't happened yet, it can't be true. The Chancellor is not a Sith Master."

"And yet he did urge you to kill Count Dooku?"

He had. Anakin knew he had. Dooku was harmless and Anakin killed him because Palpatine said to. But Palpatine wasn't a Sith! He was the only one who Anakin could always rely on. Obi-Wan was loyal to the Order before Anakin. Palpatine had always just wanted what was best for Anakin, right?

"It would explain how he's managed to keep his office, and this whole war really," Master Windu continued when Anakin's silence answered the question. He turned to Luke. "Just how strong is Palpatine? What would I have to do to make sure we can defeat him?"

Luke thought on that. Palpatine only died because he never expected Vader to turn back to the Light. Catching him by surprise would be hard for the Jedi. "He's insanely powerful. I think you'd probably have to bring every able Jedi in this Temple to guarantee victory. But he's cunning. He will bring out the hate, the fear, the anger in all those who fight him. It's quite possible that whoever kills him will become a Sith themselves from his influence."

"He couldn't turn me," Rey spoke up from where she'd been silent. "He was dead for a decade before I was even born. He never killed my friends or family, my master or apprentice. I could defeat him without emotion."

No one liked that idea. "Are you even trained? You don't seem to have any sort of Force mastery. And your lightsaber technique will get you killed against a Sith." Anakin had seen Rey fight. She had potential, but no skill yet. If Palpatine was truly what Anakin knew him to be, Rey would die.

"I have no formal training, but I defeated Kylo because I trusted the Force. But my ability won't matter so long as he is distracted enough not to fight back against me."

No one was convinced, but Yoda spoke. "Dangerous proposition, this is. Our only chance, it might be."

"Anakin cannot go though," Mace reminded them all, eyeing the knight. "Not after what we just heard. You've been under Sidious's thumb since you were a kid and never even knew it. He should be kept here under watch. I don't want to be losing any hands and getting electrocuted."

Anakin's anger flared up at that, but he controlled it quickly. He would not become this Darth Vader. He would not be who Luke said he was. "I will not be held prisoner. I shall return home to my wife, and there you will find me if you decide to expel me from the order."

"Expel you, we shall not," Grand Master Yoda interrupted daring anyone to object. "Rules on attachments, we must debate. To your wife and unborn children, you should go."

The more conservative members of the council didn't like the sound of the word 'debate', but they did not object to the Grand Master's decision. If Yoda thought the wise decision was to allow Anakin's penance be trying to balance his life's complications, they would not think themselves to know a wiser option.

Anakin bowed, and left, his eyes not leaving Luke's as he did. Luke wanted to run after him, apologize for spilling his secrets, figure out where they stood, but he did not. He was the only one of them who had ever actually fought Palpatine. He was needed in the Council chambers, and Anakin needed time to go home and talk to Padmé.

They planned for what seemed like hours, and in the end a hundred Jedi stormed the chancellor's apartment. They had agreed he was too dangerous to be taken prisoner, as his Force lightning made him never unarmed. The Jedi were responsible for keeping any clones away, and distracting Palpatine enough for Rey to get a clean shot.

No one liked the idea of Rey being the one sent to do the actual deed, but her logic made sense. There was no way Palpatine could turn her to the Dark Side. He was too displaced from everything she knew. If anything she was thankful to him for building nice, large AT-AT's for her to live in. She did not hate him for killing anyone, because she didn't know any of the dead.

In Luke's story they underestimated Palpatine. They did not now. The Chancellor fought viciously, and called many clones to his defense. They were so overwhelmed it ended up really being Yoda, Mace, Luke, Obi-Wan, and Rey fighting Palpatine himself. Rey knew she needed to end it quickly. Obi-Wan was so furious at the idea of Anakin being turned his thoughts projected, and Palpatine was using that hate to his advantage. Luke wasn't much better. He'd never hated his father, but he had always hated the Emperor. Mace feared that he would die, as in the story. Even Yoda, who had over eight hundred years of practice controlling his emotions found himself wanting the Sith dead. So many had died in the Clone Wars, and all because of Palpatine.

Palpatine threw Obi-Wan back, and struck out at Luke with lightning. It was just the distraction Rey needed. She brought down the lightsaber, Luke's lightsaber, Anakin's lightsaber, and Palpatine's head rolled to the floor, his body crumpling besides it. Rey felt nothing but relief that it was over.

A dozen Jedi were dead, and the city in chaos. News of the Chancellors death spread slower than news of him being a Sith. Half the planet seemed to think that all the Jedi must be dead for they were being led by a Sith. When the real story came out, no one but the Council knew how close to the truth that actually was.

"I've never seen someone die twice in a day before," Luke realized as he and Rey sat alone in the quarters assigned to Luke. Rey didn't feel like being along yet. She'd killed before, a stormtrooper someone stolen from their family just like Finn. She felt remorse over that death, but none over Palpatine. It made her wonder if she was wrong to think his death didn't lead her closer to the Dark Side. "Are you all right?"

Rey nodded, but knew the Force was betraying her true feelings. She wanted to go home. Not to Jakku perhaps, or even the Jedi Temple with old Luke, but to the Resistance base. To Finn and BB-8, and even Poe, who Rey knew would be a quick friend (and worthy co-pilot). "Why are we here? Why we be sent back in time? Was it to stop Palpatine and Darth Vader? Why are we still here then? Even if Anakin was still to turn he'd have no Master to learn from. He wouldn't be Darth Vader. I don't know why, but I feel like this is really just the beginning."

"I don't know why we are here Rey, but I don't think it was to stop Palpatine and save my Father. Those both would have happened eventually. Whatever we're actually here for, it's not that. It's something far greater. Something that wouldn't have been resolved in its proper time, and needs to be stopped before it even begins."

That was certainly not a comforting thought for Rey or Luke.


	5. Chapter 5

I get great amusement from your reviews. Thanks for reading!

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Chapter 5

Rey awoke early as she always did. Her body felt the sun waiting to rise, the subtle shift in the air it brought, and she awoke. On Jakku she had to be up before dawn is she had any hopes of having dinner. The few days she'd spent with the Alliance were weird for many reason, but none more so than the discovery that most people slept past dawn. Rey and General Organa had always been the only ones up so early.

It crossed Rey's mind, as she stepped into the already busy hall, that the Force allowed her to feel that shift. That was why only Leia had woken up; she could feel the shift as Rey did. But in the Jedi Temple everyone was up, including Anakin, who sat outside her door.

Rey found it difficult to connect this man with the terrifying Darth Vader of legend, so she didn't. Darth Vader would never exist because Rey killed Palpatine. Whatever path Anakin was on now, it was a new one, separate from the stories Rey knew. They'd changed the past, and Rey wondered what that meant for the future she lived in.

"Master Kenobi sent me to get you," Anakin explained, realizing that him just sitting outside her door seemed odd, especially considering he was the only married Jedi. "The Council wants to know more about our prisoner."

Of course, because they couldn't just defeat two Sith in one day, but had to destroy a Knight of Ren the next. Jedi were busy people apparently. It was hard for Rey to reconcile with the old hermit she'd briefly seen in the future. Speaking of that hermit… "Where's Luke?"

Rey didn't miss Anakin's flinch. Apparently he was bothered by his son's presence. Rey would admit it had to be odd. "I haven't seen him," Anakin bit in response, wanting the subject to drop.

Rey did let it drop. He'd had a hard time the day before because of Luke and Rey's arrival. She didn't need him to find a new breaking point so quickly. "Okay. So, um, how are you? Yesterday was…"

Anakin didn't want to talk about it, but he felt like Rey deserved answers. In all of it she'd been the one to draw the short straw. Anakin was used to being the one with the short straw, and so he found himself feeling protective over the girl. Rey really did remind him of himself. "I'm okay. It's a lot to take in, but I'm handling it." He paused for a moment until something clicked in his mind. "Rey, you're a woman."

She laughed, "What a perceptive realization. The Force must be strong with you for you to know that."

Anakin rolled his eyes at the girl's sarcasm. "I didn't tell Padmé the whole truth. I told her that you and Luke arrived from the future telling us Palpatine was a Sith, but I didn't tell her about Darth Vader, and I didn't tell her that Luke…"

"Is your son?" Rey could see why he'd have a hard time getting those words out. "I've never met your wife, so I don't know the proper path. I don't really have much experience with other women." Or people in general for that matter. "I don't think you have to tell her about Darth Vader though. He doesn't exist. He never can. The Sith are gone, forever. You are a Jedi, nothing else. But sooner or later she will learn that Luke is your child. You should be the one to tell her."

He sighed, knowing what she said to be true, but wishing it wasn't. "It's definitely going to be sooner rather than later. She wants me to bring you and Luke over for dinner. She wants you to feel comfortable in this time and knows that I 'am incapable of making anyone feel comfortable ever.'"

Rey wondered if all married couples were like that. She didn't have anyone to compare to. For a moment Rey imagined her own parents teasing each other, but she quickly drove out the thought. It wasn't worth it. "I would love to meet her, and I know Luke would to. But she needs to know."

"I know," Anakin sighed more to himself than to her. They were saved from having to continue the awkward conversation by their arrival at the Council Chambers.

Upon entering, Rey got the answer to her question about Luke's whereabouts. The sun was barely in the sky, but Luke Skywalker looked as if he'd been up for hours. He was beaming though, so something good must have happened.

Anakin didn't even look at his son as they entered, and everyone in the room noticed it. None challenged him though. He needed time, and if there was one thing Jedi were good at it was patience.

"Bestowed upon young Skywalker the title of Jedi knight, we have," Yoda explained, gleefully noting the pride that burst in Anakin's chest at the news.

"Can we really call Luke young Skywalker though?" Master Kenobi mused, chuckling to himself. "After all, biologically he is older than Anakin."

Oh, the confusions of time travel. Still, Yoda didn't mind. "Young Skywalker they both are. Young you all are to me."

Rey wondered just how old he really was, but didn't dare ask. Besides, she'd met Maz who was over a thousand years old. Surely Yoda couldn't be any older than that.

"Sit," Master Windu suggested to the Skywalkers and Rey. "I think we have another story to hear if we're to know what to do with this Kylo Ren."

"I don't know the story, not the way Luke did," Rey admitted but continued anyway. "I know shortly after the Empire fell Leia Organa, who truly was Leia Skywalker married Han Solo and had a son who they named Ben. Around this same time Luke was tracking down Force-sensitives to train as Jedi. I don't know how many he had, but there were a decent number I think. At the same time the First Order rose up, hoping to destroy the new republic and replace it with a new empire. The Supreme Leader was named Snoke, and he founded this group called the Knights of Ren who were dark-side users similar to Sith, but not privy to the knowledge Sith had." Rey wasn't sure where half the information came from, or if it was true. Most of what she knew were from legends after all.

"But Snoke needed a leader for the Knights of Ren. Ben Solo was always a bit of a hothead, always too close to the Dark Side for his parents' liking, so they sent him to Luke. They hoped that Luke could save Ben as he had Anakin. I don't know what happened, but I know Luke didn't succeed. Ben Solo turned on all the new Jedi and slaughtered them with the Knights of Ren. He joined them as their leader, Kylo Ren, and spent the next decade or so trying to be like Darth Vader, but unable to completely dispel the light in him. Luke went into hiding, and didn't tell anyone, even his sister where he was going. They knew it was an old Jedi Temple, but didn't know where."

Rey didn't want to admit it, but that Light was still there. "A few weeks ago the Resistance which fought the First Order found a piece of a map to Luke. Their best pilot, Poe Dameron, was sent to retrieve it from Jakku, my home planet. Poe managed to get the map, but he knew he'd be captured and sent it with a BB unit. I found that BB unit and after a lot of other stuff happened I ended up getting captured by Kylo Ren. He tried to probe my mind, take the map from it, but I ended up turning back on him and reading his thoughts. I'd never used the Force before, but I did then. Once it started it didn't stop either. I used the Force to escape, and eventually to fight off Kylo Ren. But only after Kylo had killed his father, hoping to defeat the last bit of Light in him."

"I don't think the light died though. I don't know anything about the Force really, I had just arrived at the Jedi Temple to be trained when I ended up here. But I don't think Ben Solo has died completely. If anything, I think him killing his father has made him weaker, not stronger. He wants to be Dark though, more than anything he wants to be Dark and powerful like Darth Vader. I'm sorry, that's a bad explanation but I don't know more. I never really got much news on Jakku."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"So he's a wannabe Sith without the power," Mace finally concluded. "That makes me to be more concerned with what we do with you than him."

With Rey? "What do you mean?"

"Luke at least has the training of a knight, but you have incredible Force- Sensitivity and no training. And you're too old to begin now."

No way. Rey was going to be trained as a Jedi. She had been on her way to do just that before time messed itself up. She was going to remind them of that when Obi-Wan spoke up.

"I think we all have to admit that perhaps what the code outlines as an appropriate age doesn't apply. Luke claims he was Rey's age when he began training, and we have made him a knight. Rey comes from a time when there is but one Jedi in the galaxy. They do not have the luxury of only training from birth. Besides, we've made exceptions before."

Perhaps that wasn't the best thing to be said. "Luke only exists because we admitted Anakin in when he was too old. Anakin never fully accepted our rules because he wasn't raised with them."

"Whatever rules I've broken do not reflect on Rey," Anakin couldn't believe Master Windu. Rey was innocent of Anakin's actions. "And that does not change the fact that Luke, trained as an adult, managed to resist the temptation of two Sith. He learned to control his emotions even as an adult. Rey can as well."

"But can you?" Master Windu didn't like it. He didn't like Anakin being part of the Order. He didn't like the other Master's just accepting Anakin's pregnant wife. He didn't like the idea of breaking the code again.

"Perhaps I cannot," Anakin replied, and Rey was impressed by his courage. He was risking so much for her and they didn't even know each other. Her arrival had actually kind of ruined his life. But then again it saved it as well so… "If you cannot get past your blindness and break the code then you should change it. And if you cannot do that then I cannot accept your offer of remaining as a Jedi. Padmé and I shall leave Corusant, return to her family on Naboo, and, if she will come, take Rey with us. There I will train her because someone must."

Mace Windu wanted to tell him to go, but didn't. No. He kept his temper, as a Jedi should. As Anakin never could. The other Masters were conflicted. They knew the code, but were beginning to wonder if its rigidness was really the will of the Force. Why would the Force keep sending them obvious exceptions to the rules if the rules were correct?

"I think Anakin should train Rey," Obi-Wan finally spoke looking at his Padawan and knowing that it was the best option. "I think she will perhaps help him learn control and he can teach her the ways of the Force. I do not know if it is best for us to go and re-write the books, but I do think it's more dangerous to allow someone so strong with the Force to go untrained. Especially when there is the possibility that at any moment she will return to a time where the galaxy desperately needs her if it is to have any Jedi at all."

A few of the other masters agreed. They wanted their ways to carry on no matter what, and if Rey was to go back to a future without Jedi she should go back as one.

Really that was the question none of them could answer. When, if, Rey and Luke went back to their appropriate times would they return back to a universe where they never existed in the past? Or would they find themselves living lives full of histories they didn't know? No one had the answer, but they had to prepare for the worse. Rey needed to be prepared to return to a world with Knights of Ren and the First Order. She needed to return a Jedi.

One master besides Windu voted against allowing Anakin to train Rey, but it was still a landslide majority. Joy leaped inside Rey. She would be trained as a Jedi. And in an even more comprehensive manner than Luke ever could have done, considering he was trained improperly as well.

"Decided it is," Yoda agreed with a nod, and Rey thought she caught a smile on his lips. She wondered how much he knew. Probably everything from the looks of it.

A man burst into the room, speaking as he did. "Masters. The prisoner has awoken and claims he will only speak with Rey."

No one was surprised by that. Kylo Ren must be very confused, not knowing about the time travel or anything. He knows Rey though. Of course he would want Rey.

"Go," Master Windu dismissed her with a nod, feeling bad for the girl in all reality. "Then report back to us tomorrow. In the mean time we need to ensure that the new chancellor isn't a Sith, and decide whether or not Kylo Ren can be punished for crimes against people who have yet to even be born."

Yeah, time travel made justice a bit different.

Anakin went with Rey as well. She was, after all, his padawan. It made him wonder about Snips, who he hadn't seen or heard from since she refused to rejoin the order. Hopefully things would turn out better with Rey than they did with his first padawan.

"You should braid the little strands of your hair that don't fit into buns," Anakin suggested as he led her to where Kylo Ren was being held. "Padawans always have little braids." Rey did as he said while they walked, but she didn't speak up. What was there to say? "He probably won't speak to you while I'm there, but I'll remain right outside."

Rey chuckled to herself. "He'd probably love to speak with you. He idolizes you actually."

"You said he idolizes Darth Vader," Anakin snapped. Rey generally seemed not to care about his possible Sith future, but apparently she didn't forget it. "Darth Vader does not exist. His idol is a figment of his imagination."

A smile crept up Rey's lips as she imagined his reaction to that. "I'm sorry. You're right, that's not you. And thank you, for standing up for me. It was brave."

"It was reckless," Anakin could practically hear his former master saying so. "But I meant it. The Order has ridiculous rules that don't help anyone. Those of us who weren't raised to it are the only ones who can see how pointless they are. I don't know what species Master Yoda is, but I don't think humans are capable of stopping love without replacing it with hate."

No, Rey didn't think they were either. Humans felt that was what made them so human. The Jedi feeling nothing was scarier to Rey than the idea of them feeling hate.

They'd arrived at where Kylo was being held. It was nothing like what the First Order held her in, but a simple room. There was something off about it though…

"There's no Force," Kylo Ren, who'd been humming a tune, stopped and looked up at Rey, a smirk on his face. "That's why it feels odd. Everything in here is synthetic, so there is no Force but that which lives in us. And, well they severed my connection for the time being, though I can tell it's not permanent. There is nothing in here for you to connect with. Odd, isn't it?"

It was odd, especially considering Rey knew nothing of the Force a few weeks before. Kylo Ren studied her and it bothered Rey more than when he tried to kill her. At least when they were fighting she knew what they wanted.

"I've figured out a few things since I woke up. For one, I'm in the days before my grandfather slaughtered the Jedi."

"There are no days before or after that," Rey jumped to the defense of Anakin knowing it to be true. "It's not happening. I killed Palpatine yesterday. There will be no Empire or Darth Vader. No First Order or Knights of Ren. No Kylo Ren. I guess that just makes you Ben Solo once more."

He swung at her, but Rey moved to the side easily. She did move her tunic a bit though, so her lightsaber was clearly in view. Kylo settled down after that, knowing he couldn't win.

"You're wrong," he spit, physically, at Rey. "Supreme Leader Snoke is alive as we speak, being trained in the ways of the Dark Side. Even without the Empire the First Order will rise and I shall take my place."

Rey rolled her eyes. His 'rule the galaxy with fear and evil' thing was kind of pitiful. "You keep telling yourself that, but it's not true. Kylo Ren does not exist and never will. The sooner you face the truth of your family, Ben Solo, the sooner you can realize how insane you sound."

"And what about you, are you going to face the truth of your family, Rey Skywalker?"


	7. Chapter 7

I have 10 minutes until midnight so therefore I am not late!

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Chapter 7

His words terrified Rey, so she forced out a laugh. "I knew you were insane, but I never realized you were delusional."

"It's true," Kylo said it with such conviction Rey felt herself waver. No. Surely it couldn't be true. That would mean Luke was her father. Luke wasn't her father. She'd surely remember if her father was a Jedi.

But what did she remember about her father? About either of her parents really. _Mommy and Daddy love you very much and will come back soon, but for now you need to be safe._ That was all she ever got when Rey tried to remember her parents, that one line, nothing more, nothing less. It was as if the line was etched into her brain. As if she'd been told to remember that line and nothing else…

No! No! Kylo was lying to get to her! Her father was not Luke Skywalker! Luke had not used the Force to make her forget him and only remember that one line. It just wasn't possible. It couldn't be. It…

"I don't need to feel the Force to know you believe me," Kylo Ren whispered, leaning close to her and gently touching her face. Rey pulled away, but their eyes were still connected. "I suspected from the beginning, but it wasn't until you called that Lightsaber, our grandfather's lightsaber, to you that I knew." Rey remembered his words, the whispered 'it is you' that caused her to shutter so much. He had seemed like he knew more about her than she knew about herself, and perhaps he did. "We grew up together you know. More or less. Of course you weren't just Rey then, but Reyna, the little queen of everything. You were the only youngling allowed to touch a lightsaber. Good thing too. You probably would have chopped your limbs off during our duel if the knowledge wasn't in there somewhere. Everyone loved you, Luke more than anyone. And he never trusted me with you. I was your only cousin, but he never left us alone. He was right of course. I always swore I'd slit your little throat just to get you to finally shut up. You're the reason everyone died, you know. Luke had a vision of what I would do, and he left your mother in charge of us and fled to hide you far away. I took advantage of his absence and brought the other Knights of Ren. I killed your mother first. She was the first person I ever killed. She begged me to stop, and I slit her throat, imagining all the while that it was yours. Everyone died because Luke left them unprotected all so he could save you."

Rey wanted to take her own lightsaber, slit Kylo Ren's throat, but she didn't move. She would not let the anger control her. She knew that led to the Dark Side. She would not be like him. She would not be.

 ** _But you're related. You can try but you'll always be just like him._**

The nagging voice crept into Rey's mind, and she squashed it. "I bet it didn't happen like that," she told Kylo not caring that her voice shook. "I bet you cowered as the flames leaped higher and higher. You watched as others killed those you'd lived with for years, and I bet you regretted ever letting Snoke into your head. I bet you realized, Cousin Ben, that you could never be like Darth Vader. But you kept with it because it was too late. And then your father shows up years later, telling you isn't too late, and you kill him. You kill him for no reason but to stop him from stop confirming what you always knew- that you are too light to be a Knight of Ren, and have done too much to be a Jedi."

Kylo, unable to handle the truth, reached for her lightsaber, but she knocked him back and left the room. Once he was out of sight, she let her panic take over. No. No. No. No. She knew what he said to be true and yet she couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it.

"Rey, what did he say," Anakin was holding her shoulders she realized, and that just made her feel worse. Anakin Skywalker. It was Anakin Skywalker, her grandfather. He would fear her when he found out, just as he feared Luke.

"He told me the truth about my family. What I knew the moment I picked up this lightsaber, but refused to believe." She held out her lightsaber to Anakin, who realized quickly why it looked so familiar.

Anakin placed his own lightsaber next to Rey's and sure enough they were the same. The years hadn't changed it at all. "How do you have my lightsaber?"

"The Force, your father, taught you how to make it. From you it was passed on to your son, and, from your son, it was passed on to his daughter." Anakin stepped away from her, cursing himself for being so stupid. "Tell me, please, what does Padmé look like?"

Anakin didn't want to believe it. No. A grown version of his son was bad enough but a granddaughter only three years younger than him? Anakin didn't want to believe it, but the truth was staring him in the face. "She looks just like you."

It was funny how genetics worked. Rey looked nothing like her father, but like her aunt and grandmother… now that was another story. "I'm sorry, I understand if you want to find someone else to train me. But I know what Ben said is the truth. He is my cousin. My name is not just Rey, it's Reyna Skywalker because Luke is my father."

"What?"

The Force worked in mysterious ways, but also in cruel ones. Rey was too wrapped up in everything she'd just learned to notice the presence rounding the corner as she spoke. She was too busy thinking about her grandfather to realize that her father was right there.

Luke stood a little ways away from his father and daughter, looking ready to puke. It had been a rough couple of days for him, but he'd been managing. Rey's words though brought him to the edge. And yet… He had no idea who Rey's mother could possibly be. She wouldn't be conceived for a decade, and yet Luke looked at her anew. She wasn't just someone he felt connected to, that he felt the need to protect. She was his beautiful, strong, stunning daughter. A daughter who didn't know him as much as he didn't know his own father. This little trip gave them all a chance to change that, to finally know the family members that the Dark Side pulled them from.

"Reyna, it's a beautiful name," Luke whispered, stepping closer to Rey, a tear in his eye. He wanted to pull her into a hug, learn everything he could, apologize for leaving her behind even though he hadn't done it yet.

She didn't let him though. Rey just took one look at her father, her father Luke Skywalker, and, without thinking, fled down the corridor. Luke went to follow her, but he felt a firm arm stop him.

"Let her go," Anakin advised Luke, speaking to his son for the first time since the news was revealed. "If you inherited any of your mother's sense you will let her go." Trusting his father, Luke did.


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, so technically it's late, but only by like 2 minutes so...

Chapter 8

Anakin was debating whether or not he should try to talk to his padawan when he ran into Obi-Wan. "I'm heading to Mustafar to end what's left of the Separatists," the Master explained. "I wouldn't suggest you follow me. I'd hate to have to cut off all your limbs."

The jest fell short, and Obi-Wan knew it. For someone finally freed from his lies Anakin had been far too downcast for his former Master's liking. "Anakin," when he said the name it was if the years hadn't passed and it was just little Ani fresh off Tatooine. "I want you to know that I understand why that version of me fought you. It wasn't as a Jedi, but as your friend. I know you wouldn't want anyone to hurt those you love. If you were hurting Padmé, you'd want me to stop you."

It was true, and they both knew it. If Anakin really got to the point where he choked Padmé he deserved to be, he had to be, stopped.

"I also want you to know that you're most certainly not the only Jedi to break the rules on attachments. I have broken it twice myself. I loved my master as a father, and I loved my padawan as a brother."

Anakin always knew how Obi-Wan felt, but hearing the words aloud made everything seem so much better. Anakin wasn't alone. He had a brother. He had Obi-Wan.

"Speaking of difficult padawans, where is Rey? You didn't leave her alone with that Kylo Ren, did you?"

No, Anakin wasn't stupid. He just ended up in ridiculous situations. "She'd probably in her quarters crying."

"What did you do?"

Why did Obi-wan assume it was Anakin's fault? He didn't make people cry often! "I did nothing. Kylo Ren told her they were cousins, that the Father who abandoned her to the desert was Luke."

Obi-Wan was suddenly grateful that the Council hadn't punished Anakin. It seemed the progeny of his affair were punishment enough. "Do you think it's true? That Rey is Luke's daughter." _That she's your granddaughter_ \- The words went unsaid, but both men heard them.

"I know it is true," Anakin could feel it in his bones. Luke was his son and Rey was Luke's daughter. Rey was his granddaughter. It explained why she was sent back with two of his relatives. It was really a Skywalker family reunion, minus only his daughter, the one Skywalker with no interest in the Force. Perhaps Leia was the only one who'd inherited Padmé's intelligence.

"What are you going to do?" Obi-Wan thought it was a fair question to ask. Anakin was faced with three relatives, none of whom had been born yet, and all of whom needed something from him. Luke needed a father. Rey needed a Master. Kylo… Well Kylo needed a savior.

Anakin didn't have a solution to all his problems though. He just had to start chipping away at them the best he could. "I'm going to Rey's chambers, I'll try to talk to her. Then… well Padmé wants them to come over for dinner so I need to have that conversation."

Obi-Wan laughed, "Perhaps I am wrong and you do want to lose all your limbs on Mustafar. Sounds less painful." It probably would be. "I must go, but Anakin, I do not think you will find Rey in her room. I'd instead suggest you go wherever it was you always disappeared to when we fought."

"All these years and you still pretend not to know," Anakin smiled as Obi-Wan winked. "Good luck with the Separatists."

Obi-Wan went to go, but called back towards Anakin. "Good luck with your family. Five Skywalkers is definitely more than the world needs."

Anakin did find Rey where he'd always run off to. She sat at one of the tables in the garage, fidgeting with some gadget and talking to Achyls, a Jedi of some species Anakin could never remember. She looked mostly human, but had no hair covering her snow-white skin, not even eyebrows, which Anakin always found disconcerting, and he grew up around Hutts.

"I had better go," Anakin heard Achyls say as he approached the table. "It was very nice to meet you Rey."

As Achyls left, Anakin took a seat across from Rey. He realized she was working on an astromech droid, seemingly trying to put a head of an old R2 unit on a spherical body. It didn't appear to be going to well. "I always loved working with droids too," Anakin admitted with a soft sigh. "I built one as a kid you know, C-3PO. I liked it because while I couldn't solve the problems of people I could always solve the problems of machines."

"Droids are more like people than machines," Rey countered quickly. BB-8 was one of the smartest things she knew and he had a greater emotional range than Unkar Plutt back on Jakku. "Wait a minute, are you saying you built C-3PO?"

She looked astounded, impressed, and slightly annoyed at once. Obviously she'd met the protocol droid. "Yeah, well I more fixed him than anything. He'd been built before. He was supposed to help my mom, but after she died I gave him to Padmé."

"I'm sorry about your mother," Rey looked up at him and saw young eyes. He was probably only three years older than her, biologically at least. Too young not to have a mother, despite what life seemed to insist.

Anakin nodded, not wanting to think on his mother's death, or what happened afterwards. "I'm sorry about yours."

Rey just shrugged. It wasn't Anakin's fault after all. It was Kylo's, and maybe a bit of Luke's if he'd really left her unprotected just to save Rey. "I only spent a week with C-3PO, but he drove me nuts, and R2 said that was him at his least annoying."

"R2-D2?" Rey nodded, and Anakin smiled. His little droid was still there in the future, fighting for his family. "He's technically mine, though I leave him at home with Padmé when not flying."

Rey could hardly believe it. How had those two little droids survived so many members of her family? Then Rey realized that she was thinking of Luke, Anakin, and Padmé as her family, and silently went back to trying to build a BB unit. Technically he belonged to Poe, but Rey missed BB-8. He was her first friend.

"You know I can't tell if you're upset that Luke left you on Jakku, or if you're just scared because you don't know how to have a father."

"You know I can't tell if you're upset that your son revealed your secret life or if you're just scared because you don't know how to be a father."

Her words hit Anakin like a Force punch. Why was he avoiding Luke so? Was it fear? Anakin knew it was. But Jedi weren't supposed to be scared. Why then was Anakin, who was the most powerful Jedi, always so scared?

"I know I can't blame this Luke for leaving me," Rey finally admitted, not looking up from her work. She imagined she was just telling BB-8, and not someone who could actually repeat her words. It made the whole thing a lot easier, especially with her hands occupied. "He hasn't even had me yet. But at the same time I can't get any explanation for why except for what Kylo says, and he's just hoping I'll get angry enough to try and kill someone."

Anakin considered that. How do you forgive someone when you don't even have an explanation for why? "My children haven't been born yet, but I know I would never leave them on a desert planet if I had another option. But I would do anything, including make them hate me, if it would protect them. You don't need Luke to tell you why he did it, you know, and you just have to accept it. You've been given an opportunity to know your father, take it. I always wished I had a father whom I could get to know. Be glad you do."

Rey didn't say anything, but Anakin could tell she was considering it. Good. That was all he could ask. "Come on, we need to start training you. You could be sucked back to the future any minute. But if you haven't been by dinnertime don't forget you have to come to dinner with Padmé if you want to have a breathing master."

Dinner. The idea was far scarier than fighting with lightsabers that tended to cut off the limbs of Skywalkers.


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you all for your enthusiastic response. 400 hits per chapter is unbelievable! I don't deserve you.

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Chapter 9

Rey's lightsaber training was complicated. Subconsciously she remembered all the things a youngling learned, but the skills she'd used to fight Kylo Ren were fickle at best. The Force could show her how to fight, how to move and glide, but it did not always. At times she seemed to forget it wasn't her staff, but a far more powerful weapon that could not be grabbed just anywhere. (She still had two hands by the end of the day, however, which was all Anakin could really ask for.)

Anakin didn't have much patience, but for Rey, who had even less patience, he remained calm. She wanted to just be able to do it like she had on the Starkiller base, but it didn't work like that. She needed to learn, and learning took time.

Patience was hard though for someone who was used to action. On Jakku she couldn't just wait for things to click if she wanted to eat. She had to make things happen, one way or another. This ingenuity could certainly be helpful when training, but made running through forms tedious work. She did it though, and didn't complain. The only reason Anakin could tell she was frustrated was because of the look in her eyes. He'd seen it before in mirrors.

"I want you to meditate for an hour and then get ready for dinner," Anakin finally told her after she did the whole intermediate set properly. He noticed a scowl on Rey's face, and found it amusing. "It's not optional, meditating is an important part of being a Jedi."

That caused Rey to scowl more. Anakin thought he was so funny. "I don't mind meditating. I mind dinner. Do I really have to? Surely you'd like Padmé to get used to the idea of a grown son before you spring the next bit. I'll gladly just stay here and…"

"You can't avoid Luke forever," Anakin reminded her before remembering he was trying to do the same thing. Rey must have had the same thought because she had a glint of mischief in her eye. "Do as I say, not as I do, alright? I think that is probably a good rule to follow in general." Rey rolled her eyes, and left without bowing. Anakin didn't even mind. He kind of deserved it.

As Rey found her way back to her quarters, Anakin made the slow journey home. It was odd, not having to sneak out, but awkward as well. Each Jedi he passed had that look of disgust. They all knew where he was going, what he'd done. He knew they were questioning the judgment of the council, but that was why they weren't on the council. None of the knights or padawans who judged him had a hint of wisdom. They didn't know. They didn't understand. They had no right to judge him. He didn't care that they were.

He told himself that, but it was hard to go from the war hero the Code-breaker. But being with Padmé was worth it. Padmé made all of it worth it. Though, Anakin knew once he told her the truth she might just kill him. He'd probably wish he'd followed the code then.

Padmé's apartment, their home, was modest for a Senator, but still unreasonably lavish. Anakin found it was another of his guilty pleasures in life. Jedi were supposed to find comfort in modesty. Anakin found himself, a former piece of property, eternally gladdened by the idea of possessions. Even if they were technically his wife's.

"Master Anakin!" C-3PO greeted when the Jedi entered the apartment. "You must help. Lady Padmé does not seem to be well."

Anakin began to panic remembering that in Luke's timeline his wife had only months to live. He would not let that happen though. He would not turn dark and bring her death quicker. He would save her, not through the dark side, but through caring.

But if she was sick none of his caring would make a difference. If there was something wrong with Padmé or the children… Anakin didn't know what he would do if he lost them. Anakin didn't want to know what he may do if he lost them.

"Padmé, are you all right?" Anakin asked creeping into the refresher to see her looking fine, if a bit pale. "C-3PO made it sound as if you were dying."

Padmé turned to her husband, and kissed him gently. Anakin carefully pulled her closer, trying not to press hard against the bump he felt forming. _Luke and Leia…_ "I've just been a bit nauseous, that's all," Padmé promised and Anakin breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't dying. She would be okay. He had nothing to worry about. "It was a long day, but it's good. Bail Organa was elected Chancellor in the end. He will do us all good." Yes, Bail was a good choice, and Anakin found himself thinking of the man like family. He had, after all, raised Leia in a different life. Still, Anakin's thoughts quickly snapped back to Padmé.

"If you're feeling sick I can send a message to Rey and Luke telling them not to come…" All of them, (well perhaps not Luke) would be glad to see the dinner cancelled. Padmé, however, would have none of it. She gave Anakin that look and he sighed. "I'm sorry. I know you want to meet them it's just…It's just that there are some things I didn't tell you about yesterday."

Padmé Amidala Skywalker knew the look on her husband's face. It was the look he had when telling her of the Tusken Raiders. The look he had whenever he returned from a battle in which someone she knew died. It was not a look she'd grown to love. "Ani, what is it?"

He pretended not to, but Anakin loved it when she called him that. It reminded him of who he'd been when they first met, of who he'd been when the fell in love. Everything had been so different before the war, Anakin had been so different. Ani barely existed anymore, but Padmé believed otherwise.

It was that utmost belief in Anakin that allowed him to lead his wife over to their bed, and tell her the truth. "Rey and Luke, they are not just two random Jedi sent back from the future with a Sith."

"Of course not, you said they were the only Jedi from their time right?" Padmé remembered because she'd been so disturbed by the idea of a world without any other Jedi. That would mean it was a world without Anakin.

"Yes but…" How did you explain something so complicated? "I guess I should say it's no coincidence that when they arrived in this time they arrived at my feet. We're connected, well, actually, we're related." Her eyes flickered down as he continued. "Luke is our son, our unborn son sent back from the future for Force-knows-what-reason. And that's not the end of it. Rey is his daughter, which came as a surprise to all of us today because according to her cousin, our grandson, the Sith-like Knight of Ren, Luke left Rey on Jakku as a child."

Padmé didn't look upset, but Anakin shouldn't have been surprised. She took assassination attempts and other insane things in stride. "What you're saying is that our son is coming to dinner with his daughter, who hasn't been born yet in his mind, but who he will abandon, and that our grandson is being held prisoner in the Jedi Temple because he's dark?" It was a simple enough way to sum it up, so Anakin nodded. Padmé took only a moment to compose herself and, in true royal fashion, got up and went to work.

"C-3PO," she called to the droid. "Make sure everything is perfect tonight. I want to make a good impression on our son and granddaughter tonight."

C-3PO went to go and check on things, but stopped when the words registered. "You're what my lady?"

"My son and granddaughter," she replied in a tone that reminded al that she'd once been queen. "Luke and Rey Skywalker."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Rey meditated the best she could, but found it difficult. Her brain spun with Kylo's words- a _nd what about you, are you going to face the truth of your family, Rey Skywalker?_ She didn't want to face the truth of her family. She didn't want to be Luke's daughter. Being Anakin's granddaughter wasn't the worst thing, for some reason she could accept that. Perhaps it was that a grandparent always seemed so distant to her, a stranger more than a relative. But her father? Rey always imagined her father as a struggling trader, working hard to get enough money to return to her. She didn't imagine Luke Skywalker, hermit. Or even Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, not even a decade older than her. Rey didn't like the truth of her family. She did not want to face it.

But what choice did she have? She couldn't just refuse to go to the stupid dinner with her grandparents. She kind of wanted to go to a dinner with grandparents. Rey only wished her father, the father who left her as a child on Jakku, didn't have to be there as well.

She knew she shouldn't blame this Luke for her father's actions, but it was so hard. And beyond that it was just plain awkward! Rey didn't know how to have a father, especially not one so young. It just… it just… it was just hard.

But Rey was used to a hard life. Her father left her to get used to a hard life. So when Rey left her quarters and found Luke waiting outside she didn't object. She just walked on and let him follow behind her.

"Rey, can we please talk?" He finally sighed as they took a taxi towards the Senatorial Apartments. Rey didn't openly look at him, but she saw him clearly. They looked nothing alike she decided, which was comforting. All they shared was the Force, and the Force belonged to everybody. "I know it's hard, but you can't just ignore me."

Rey looked up, her face stoic. "I'm not ignoring you. I simply have nothing to say. You're my father. You won't father me for another decade or so. Simple. Nothing else must be said."

Luke felt like he needed to say something, anything, but he didn't know what. He wanted to know his father and daughter, but neither would give him a chance. It was frustrating, but Luke had patience. If he could get through to Darth Vader he could get through to Anakin and Rey. He just had to stay patient.

"You don't find things like this in the desert," Rey noted looking at the apartment complex with awe. The whole planet just seemed to be one huge city, which Rey thought impossible. But the vast wealth of the place was astounding. How could she be related to someone who lived in a place like this?

"No you don't," Luke agreed, and Rey was reminded that their childhoods hadn't been all that different. They'd both been kept from their fathers for their own protection. They'd both been raised to the desert and knew its harshness. They were too alike; it bothered Rey. "Weird to think my mother was once a queen."

"I have no idea what my mother was," Rey whispered unable to stop herself. As soon as the words came out she regretted them though, because Luke dawned a guilty look.

Luke held her eyes as he whispered, "I know, and I'm sorry."

Rey wanted to say that it wasn't his fault, but the words were unreachable. Perhaps Luke hadn't done it, but he would. The man before her would leave his daughter on Jakku. He would put Rey's safety before others and get her mother killed. Luke hadn't, but if the situation was right, he would.

Luke and Rey remained silent as they found their way up to Senator Amidala's apartment. Outside they were greeted by a familiar droid. "Hello. I am C-3PO…"

"Human-cyborg relations." Luke heard it so many times he easily finished the sentence. "Where's R2?"

C-3PO looked stunned. "My! You really are from the future. The creator said you knew me in the future but I just couldn't believe it."

Rey and Luke got amusement from the way he waddled in excitement. They followed him into the apartment which seemed larger than any city they'd ever known. The place was huge, open, and beautiful. Neither could believe they were related to the people who actually lived there.

R2-D2 rolled over, letting off a series of whistles and beeps that made Rey laugh. Luke turned to her surprised "I didn't realize you had any droids."

"I don't," Rey admitted. She didn't have much of anything at all. "But I picked up binary on Jakku, along with quite a few other languages as well. Many species still don't like speaking Basic and it was a useful skill to have."

"I know over 6,000 languages," C-3PO boasted. Rey chuckled at how little the droid could change in fifty-five years. Give him a red arm and Rey could be back in her time.

Anakin rounded the corner as C-3PO spoke, and was less than amused by his droid. "And sometimes I wish I had forgotten to give you a mouth to speak them with. You were supposed to show them in, not drive them out."

"What do you mean it's not too late to pull my voice box out!" C-3PO objected to R2's whistles. Rey laughed, and followed her master into the main area, away from the droids. Her eyes scanned the room as she did, and she couldn't help but be impressed. The place was beautiful beyond compare. If this was just an apartment what did a palace look like?

"I'd give up on trying to build that astromech droid Rey," Anakin rolled his eyes, but they all knew he was amused by the droids. "Once you make them they never do shut up."

BB-8 did tend to be a chatterbox, but Rey liked that. She had far too much silence on Jakku. Luke too remembered what good company R2 had been on Degobah and wouldn't get rid of his droid for the world. Perhaps they weren't technically living, but they were as good friends as any.

"Don't listen to Ani, R2 and 3PO are wonderful," a woman called rounding the corner. Padmé wore more modest clothes than always, just a simple silk gown which carefully outlined her pregnant belly. Rey found herself trying not to think of how it was her father in there, but Luke could barely look away. It was too odd.

Padmé was beautiful, and Rey was embarrassed that Anakin would compare them. Padmé was gorgeous and soft in every way Rey was not. Her hair was pulled up in an intricate design, and Rey suddenly wondered if her buns looked stupid. They'd always been practical, but certainly didn't make her beautiful the way Padmé's hair did.

Rey's thoughts were interrupted by a hug from the women in question. She froze for a moment, but eventually melded into the woman's arms. Padmé was warm, kind, and loving-exactly what a grandmother should be. Rey approved.

Luke felt a tear drip down his face when Padmé turned to hug him. He was being hugged by his mother. He was being hugged by his mother for the first time in his life. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe it.

"Come," she prompted, smile wide across her beautiful face. "Dinners ready. We can talk at the table."

Rey followed quickly, but Luke was too shocked to move. He'd just met his mother. He had a mother. Anakin noticed and, trying his best to make the night good for Padmé, spoke with words braver than him. "Come on, don't keep your mother waiting."


	11. Chapter 11

So I screwed up... this is yesterday's chapter, today's will be up in a minute. Let's see if we can fix this. So sorry!

So this chapter is long so be happy. Also, I know Felicity Jones is the actress not the character but since we don't know the character's name...

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Chapter 11

The four Skywalkers sat down to dinner, and no one spoke. Anakin, Luke, and Rey all pretended that their food was the most interesting thing they'd ever eaten, and, with the exception of Anakin, it was. Rey and Luke couldn't believe the wealth and status of Padmé. They'd been raised with nothing, but here she was with so much. This was what they should have had. The life of wealth was their heritage, but they'd missed out because of Palpatine. But now, now Palpatine was gone.

Again Rey found herself wondering what world she'd return to if she ever got a chance to go back. Would she be back at the Jedi Temple begging an older Luke to train her? Or would she be living as a Jedi with a rich and powerful family? Both were equally hard to imagine. What would be worse- going back to nothing with the knowledge of more, or going back to more knowing it wasn't your real past?

Padmé didn't like the silence in the room. Sure, it was undoubtedly odd that the man sitting before her, with sandy locks and Anakin's eyes, was also the child within her womb, but still. They were all walking on pins and terrified. No. It just wouldn't do. She wasn't going to let her family be a mess just because the Force decided to play some tricks. She was going to fix things.

"Ani, can you help me for a moment?" She requested getting up and heading towards their bedroom. Anakin had no idea what she was doing, but knew the mischievous glint in her eye. It was how he always knew her apart from her doppelgangers, that look. She was up to something, and he suspected it did not bode well for their guests.

He shut the door, and followed Padmé over to the Veranda. She looked out at the bustling city wondering about all the normal families out there. They most certainly did not have her problems. "What is Rey's problem with Luke? I don't need to sense the Force to know she's avoiding him. He won't look away and she won't even look him in the eye."

"Rey was left on Jakku to be a scavenger when she was five. Luke thought he was protecting her, but I think she resents him for leaving her. He promised her he'd come back, but he never did."

Poor Rey. Padmé couldn't imagine being all alone in a desert at five. "And Rey's mother?"

"We have no idea who she was, but Kylo Ren claims to have killed her along with all the Jedi Padawans of their time. He only got to opportunity to attack because Luke had left to bring Rey to Jakku."

Padmé decided she needed to yell at her grandson later for his evilness, but for now she needed to give some happiness to her son and granddaughter. "They need to talk it out."

"I know but Rey won't give him a chance."

"She's not going to have a choice."

Rey and Luke awkwardly sat at the table while Padmé and Anakin spoke. Luke considered trying to talk to her again, but didn't want her to flat out leave. That would upset Padmé, and Luke didn't want to upset his mother within an hour of knowing her.

His mother, Luke still struggled to comprehend it. A father, he'd gotten used to the idea of having a father months ago on Bespin, but a mother? His Aunt Beru was amazing-patient, kind, loving-but she was not his mother. Padmé was Luke's mother, and she was the warm figure Leia described. Her memories always seemed impossible, but Luke realized they were true. Padmé was kind, if a bit sad. Not as sad as she would have been if Anakin turned though. Luke was glad to know he saved such a kind person that pain.

"Come here you two, we want to show you something," Anakin called from the other room, sounding slightly annoyed, as if he'd just lost an argument. Rey didn't think it was a rare state though. He probably lost arguments to Padmé all the time.

Luke and Rey followed his voice and were led into a beautiful sitting room. In it sat a box which, while normally locked, was open for all to see. The box was filled with holograms, replaying the secret love of Padmé and Anakin. It wasn't so secret anymore though, and the open box showed that.

"You looked lovely." Rey realized one of the holograms showed them getting married, and Padmé did look radiant. Like an angel really. "When did…"

She didn't get to finish her question, because Anakin and Padmé had escaped from the room. Rey ran towards the door, but couldn't get it open. "You two aren't coming out until Anakin senses no conflict!" Padmé yelled through the door, and Luke found himself smiling. His mother was so much like Leia. "You can't lie to the Force. Figure it out!"

"I am sorry about this," Anakin called back, mostly towards Rey. "But it is in your best interest. Think of it as part of your training Rey. Conflict leads to the Dark Side."

Rey was furious. She could not do this. She could not face him. She had no idea how she felt about Luke, never mind what she should say to him! She was scared and she didn't know what to do.

She'd felt the same way when she picked up Luke and Anakin's lightsaber. Rey had never felt so terrified in her life as when she saw those things, when she felt the Force awakening within her. Now she felt just as scared, if not more. She'd had to fight on Jakku; she hadn't had to feel.

"Rey, I'm going to meditate," Luke told her figuring it was in his best interest to let her go when ready. "If you want to talk feel free to, but take as long as you want."

Rey took about five minutes. She tried using the Force to open the door, but that failed. Then she tried to find a window, but they were so far up and Rey wasn't even sure there was a ground beneath her. The skyscrapers looked as if they met in the planet's core! No, she wasn't getting out until Padmé decided to let them out, and that wasn't happening until she spoke to Luke.

"Why Jakku?"

Luke tried not to show his smile, but he couldn't help it. Finally Rey was speaking to him. "I don't know, I haven't done it yet."

"I know, I know that." Rey thought he was making it extra hard, but really he was just unsure how to answer her questions. "I know you don't have a daughter yet or a wife or even a girlfriend but, theoretically. You have a vision that says your padawan and nephew wants your five year old daughter dead, so you bring her to Jakku. Why?"

Speculating was difficult, but Luke found that he did know why he'd bring her to Jakku. "I don't know much of it, but I know it's a desert world, a lot like Tatooine. I suspect it reminded me of where I grew up. The desert is hard, but it is livable. Jakku is also remote, no one would look there. If Kylo Ren knew me he'd look on Tatooine for you first. Plus Jakku is in the Inner Rim so it's under the control of the Republic… we do get a new Republic, right?"

Rey nodded, yes there was a Republic, until Kylo blew it up at least. Luke's answer was exactly what she expected it to be. For Luke Jakku was familiar, but safe. But he always had a family, an aunt and uncle, on Tatooine; Rey had no one.

"You know I do have an idea who your mother might be," Luke admitted. He'd been thinking about it since he found out earlier, who her mother might be. "You're right that I'm not involved with anyone, there hasn't been much time for that, but there is a woman with the same accent as yours that I've heard around the Rebel base. Felicity Jones I think, the woman who stole the plans to the death star."

"Felicity Jones," Rey whispered the name to herself and decided she liked it. It was unlike any name she'd ever heard before, but lovely all the same. Felicity Skywalker, her mother. "Everyone always said my accent was odd, but I'm glad to think I learned it from my mother."

Luke nodded. He understood the longing for any connection to your family. He understood his daughter very well. "When I was young I used to make things up about my mother. Some days I said she was a runaway slave who my father found stowed away on his spice freighter… that's what I thought he did, pilot a spice freighter. Sometimes I thought she was an heiress who was disowned when she married my father, but would do it again gladly. Other times of course I decided she was a queen or senator, I guess I wasn't too off with those last ones."

"I couldn't remember anything about my parents, I guess it got wiped or maybe time's to blame, but I always remembered that it was my father flying the ship that left me on Jakku." Rey remembered screaming for him to return; it was her first memory. "So I imagined my father was a Rebel pilot and that one of the ships I scavenged from on Jakku he'd shot down. And I told myself he had got roped into helping the Resistance which was why he hadn't come back yet."

It was odd to think that their wildest theories were closest to the truth. "I might be able to help you remember some stuff," Luke realized after a moment of peaceful silence. "If I did block your memories I might be able to undo it." He'd stepped towards Rey, but she stepped away. Did she really want another life in her head? Was she ready to be Reyna Skywalker? "I don't need to undo it all if you want. I could help you bring out one memory, that way you'll know how it works if you ever want to do it yourself."

Rey liked that idea; she liked being in complete control. Carefully she sat down on the floor, and Luke sat across from her. "You need to relax, focus on the Force, but specifically your own Force presence." He paused for a few minutes, letting her fall into a peaceful rhythm of breathing. "Now focus on something, something you know you must have done as a child." He could feel Rey try, but she came up with nothing. "Okay, don't try that, try your name, your real name. Think about Reyna." Rey thought it wasn't working, but then she heard a whispered voice, with her same accent.

 _Reyna danced in some grass, no shoes on her little feet. The dew had soaked her, but she didn't mind. The day was warm and dual suns, one far closer than the other, made everything shockingly bright. Little Reyna didn't mind though, she was used to the landscape._

 _"Reyna Skywalker, don't ignore me," her mother called, trying to sound more annoyed than she actually was. Her daughter looked like she belonged with the rays of sunshine. "It's time to come in for dinner."_

 _Reyna ran over to her mother, tripping as she did. Suddenly the wet grass wasn't so much fun, and a thick gash traced her leg. Reyna cried out, sobbing instantly. Her mother ran over, carefully picked up the bleeding girl and carried her into the Jedi Temple._

 _Everything was blurry as Rey cried, but she wiped her eyes in time to see her father looking worried. He was older than the man Rey knew in the past, but younger than what she met in her time. Reyna's mother held her as Luke carefully placed a bacta patch on the wound. "It's okay, sunshine, I know it hurts, but it won't hurt forever. Nothing hurts forever."_

 _"Don't leave me daddy," Reyna whispered, grabbing his hand with her little one. Luke's face softened, his worry disappeared, as she grabbed him. The rest of the galaxy was not as precious as his little girl._

 _"I won't ever leave you, my little ray of sunshine, daddy promises he'll never leave you. And if I do you'll find me again. The Force will always bring us back together."_

Rey's eyes flung open, and she stood up. Luke too looked startled by the vision, seeing himself with his daughter, feeling the love between them. He longed to know Rey even more because of it.

"You were right though," Rey whispered, finally looking her father in the eye. "I spent all those years waiting for you to come back but you couldn't. I had to find you, and I did. And now the Force has brought us back together, in the most unexpected way."

Luke nodded, and reached out to wipe away the tear Rey didn't realize she'd shed. "It's amazing how in a single day someone can go from a stranger to someone you'd sacrifice the galaxy for. I love you Rey, not for who you were as a child or who you grew up to me. I love you unconditionally and irrevocably because you are my daughter and I've been given a chance to know you that I probably don't even deserve."

Rey nodded, and found herself wrapped in the safety of her father's arms. She didn't even notice the door creaking open.


	12. Chapter 12

I fixed the issues with the chapters. I have no idea what happened but here is today's chapter... I think I fixed yesterday's chapter too. LaughingLadyBug gave me the idea for certain lines in this chapter, so blame your tears on her.

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Chapter 12

There was still tension between Luke and Anakin, but the whole house was more relaxed once Rey accepted her father. It was still undoubtedly weird, but she understood.

Rey and Padmé decided to do the dishes, because doing the dishes with her grandmother was one of Padmé's best memories. Rey was sweet. A bit awkward perhaps, and unsure of herself most definitely, but strong and sweet. The two chattered lightly, amazed by how little life changed in fifty-five years. They didn't even need to talk though. There was a tangible bond between the two from the moment they met. Rey could sense it, the pulsing in the Force. And while Padmé couldn't truly feel it, she knew from the smile on Anakin's face that it was there.

"We should lock Anakin and Luke up as well, make them work it out," Rey suggested, casting a glance to where they sat on opposite sides of the room.

Padmé chuckled at the idea, but neither woman actually thought it would work. Anakin wasn't like Rey who just needed to understand. Anakin was terrified of everything Luke represented. He was terrified that he would be Darth Vader, the only father Luke knew. Anakin was scared that he, who never had a father, would be a bad one, and so he didn't want to try. Denying that Luke was his son gave Anakin a good few months before he had to face reality again.

Luke didn't want that though. If he was sent back to his time Anakin would be dead again. He didn't want to know only his father's ghost. He wanted to know his father. How many people got to know their parents before they were born? Luke was given the opportunity, and he wasn't going to just let it slip away.

"Wait until Luke gets himself hurt," Padmé decided knowing her husband far too well. "Then he'll be all over the med droids. He cares, he's just scared." Padmé finished drying the dishes, but didn't move to rejoin the boys. "Anakin said the Council made you his padawan. Keep nagging him to stop being a hypocrite and talk to Luke. He'll break."

Rey really enjoyed the light banter between her grandparents. They were so in love that they didn't have to act like they were in love, they just acted like best friends. It was adorable, and thrilling. This was her family! She could hardly believe it.

"Rey," Padmé's voice grew quiet, and the scavenger realized that Padmé had stopped working all together. "I have to ask. I know Luke left you but do you remember at all if I was a good grandmother?"

Rey had no idea what to say. How could she possibly tell Padmé the truth-that she didn't live to be a mother or grandmother? Rey couldn't do that. She just couldn't. The woman was too bright, too hopeful, too kind to know the truth of Rey's universe. "I don't remember much, but Luke showed me how to retrieve memories so..." she faded out, as if pretending to remember. She even managed a smile. "You were baking with me and some of the flour went everywhere and... You were the best grandmother I could ever ask for. Truly."

Padmé hugged Rey tight, for which the teen was grateful. At least Padmé couldn't see the tear that had replaced Rey's smile.

The hour was late, and Luke and Rey rejected Padmé's offer to stay the night. They probably would have if it wasn't so obvious that Anakin was bothered by the idea. "I'll see you first thing Rey, don't forget you have to report to the Council on Kylo."

Ugg, Rey didn't want to think about Kylo. She'd been having such a nice time with her family. She didn't want to be thinking about her evil cousin. "There's not much to say. We talked about me more than him."

"Well, technically we still need to tell the council what he told you about Luke," Anakin reminded. Obi-Wan had probably passed the message along, but it needed to be officially said. He just hoped they didn't make someone else train Rey because of it.

Rey hoped so too. She liked spending time with her grandfather, and he understood her in a way no one else could. It made her training go smoother. "I won't let them," she told him with a grin. "Goodnight, it was nice meeting you Padmé."

"You as well," Padmé promised hugging Rey tight. Padmé then turned to her son, and hugged him as well. "Goodnight Luke, don't let your father keep you away, and take care of Rey," she whispered in his ear.

Luke let the hug linger, taking in the feeling of having a mother. "I will, goodnight, mother."

His last word was quieter than the rest, but they all heard it. Padmé didn't seem to mind though, actually, she smiled, and carefully placed a hand to where Luke and Leia were growing within her. She was his mother, and it was strange, but it was wonderful.

"I am your mother," she answered, nodding her head and carefully cupping her swollen abdomen. "Was I a good one?"

Anakin tensed, worried that Luke would slip up, reveal the truth. But the father was just like the daughter, and while his blue eyes grew wide as the lakes of Naboo, he nodded. How cruel of him would it be to take away the hope she has now for her future? "You were best. You always put me and my sister first. You would bake cookies with Leia and play Jedi with me when Dad wasn't home. Everything that was important to us, you tried to make important to you too. Not for one second did I ever doubt that you loved me."

"I do," Padmé promised, a tear dripping down her face as she hugged her son for the second time ever. "Oh I love you all so much! I'm sorry I'm not usually that emotional."

Luke smiled, trying to break the tension Padmé, luckily, couldn't feel. "Sorry, my fault."

Luke and Rey were silent on the way back to the Jedi Temple, but it was different from before. They were silent because they didn't need to say anything, not because they didn't want to. Now they could just understand each other without speaking.

The Force bond between the two of them was bright enough that any Jedi who hadn't already heard of their relationship knew it. The two who were strangers the day before suddenly had a bond worthy of a decade between a master and padawan. Many found the attachment concerning, but others saw the light in it. The light side bonded them completely, ones light purging any darkness from the other. It was, in short, beautiful.

The bond was handy too. Rey didn't have to say anything for Luke to know what she was planning. "I'll come with you." Rey looked ready to object, so Luke continued quickly. "I won't come in, but someone should be outside in case something happens. And I want to talk to him as well."

Rey bit her lip. "It's late… maybe I shouldn't."

It really wasn't all that late and both knew it. Rey just wasn't sure about letting her father near Kylo. She didn't want to see Luke hurt. "I'm supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around," Luke reminded her, gently sweeping her padawan braids from in front of her eyes. "I'd love to see you go to bed, but I need to talk to him. You feel like you need more to report to the Council than just how he baited you, so let's go together and we can keep each other sane."

Neither father nor daughter would be persuaded out of going, and so they headed together. When they arrived, Rey was surprised to find Achyls, the Jedi Knight she met earlier, on guard.

"You're much happier than earlier," Achyls noted. She'd clearly heard about why Rey was so upset and could gather from Luke's presence why Rey was happier now. "You sure you want to ruin it by talking to him? He's a pretty foul presence."

Yeah, Rey knew that, but she still had to talk to him. "Yeah well I need to figure out why he's so foul for the Council so…" Rey just shrugged unable to explain what she didn't understand. Why was Rey so desperate to crack through Kylo Ren's walls?

"Scream if you need anything," Achyls teased, unlocking the door for Rey to enter. Rey nodded, and after receiving a nod in return from Luke, she entered the cell.

Kylo looked worse than he had in the morning. He was pouting, probably not eating, and making himself miserable. Honestly, he acted like a teenager, at thirty!

"Hello Ben."

"Hello Reyna," he replied, before going back to humming the same tune from the morning. It was a simple tune, light, flowing, but held a wait of sadness to it. The sadness of memories...

Memories Rey didn't have as she flinched at her true name. Kylo couldn't see though, as she, externally, remained calm. "I met our grandmother tonight. And my father showed me how to get my memories back."

"You accept him so readily," Kylo taunted, leaning forward to flick her padawan braid. "He abandoned you! He's lucky you didn't starve to death on Jakku! He's no Father, never was."

Rey knew that wasn't true. She'd seen him be a wonderful father in her memory. "He was trying to save me from you. Why did you want me dead? Was it jealousy, or was it more? Why did you turn to Snoke and the Dark Side? You could have been a senior Jedi, on the new Council, a hero, but you turned it all away. What did Snoke promise you?"

"Snoke promised me the strength to finish what our grandfather started!"

"What our grandfather stopped!" How could Kylo be so stupid! How could he want to be evil and miserable? "Our grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, killed Palpatine to save his son! To save a man you want to kill. That's not honoring his legacy, that's destroying it. You're replaying past failures, trying to be someone who never liked himself! Surely if the Dark Side is so powerful it would have won by now, at least once in history, but it hasn't! There is no power there! There is only power in love!"

Kylo shook his head, and pulled away from her. Rey had the sudden urge to chop off all his hair so she could properly see those eyes he tried to hide from the light. "You're a naïve child. You always have been. That was why I wanted you dead. That is why you will die."

"At least I won't die for the same pointless goal that hundreds of other hated by history died for," Rey told him standing, but not leaving. She still didn't understand. Perhaps it was because she didn't lust for power, but she didn't feel like that was all. "Why are you scared of goodness?"

He didn't answer, so Rey knew she hit the nose on the head. It was exactly what he said to Han. He felt pulled apart. He so badly wanted to be light but just didn't know how to be. Didn't think he could be.

"If Anakin Skywalker doesn't have to be Darth Vader, Ben Solo can return," Rey promised him before heading out the door. She understood him now, and she understood Snoke. Now Rey just needed to figure out how she could show Ben that it was never too late.


	13. Chapter 13

It's on the short side, but who doesn't love a good cliffhanger-eh?

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Chapter 13

Rey reported to the Council about both her meetings with Kylo, and was promptly dismissed. Obi-Wan had defeated the Separatists easily. A new, non-sith, chancellor was in place. It actually seemed like they were going to take a break from the life-or-death insanity.

They allowed Anakin to continue training Rey, saying that 'minimize number of attachments we must. Bond with relative they already have. Remember this, we shall." Honestly Rey didn't really get what Master Yoda was talking about, but she didn't care all that much. The galaxy was at peace. She was training properly. Rey even had made a friend in Achyls. Things were good.

Except for the fact that Anakin still avoided Luke. Rey had taken to meditating with Obi-Wan and Luke over Anakin, who was terrible at teaching meditation considering he never relaxed. Every day Anakin would greet his former master and Rey, ignoring Luke. Luke wasn't bothered by it, no he was infinitely patient, the model Jedi (which everyone found so ironic considering). Rey and Obi-Wan however had taken to berating Anakin over it.

"You know you're really a giant hypocrite," Rey finally told Anakin, done with his lame excuses. Anakin was being a baby, and he was the patriarch of the family. "You made me talk to Luke. Why won't you?"

Anakin ignored her, and Rey wanted to scream. She liked him, honestly, but he was so infuriating. "You need to not get so upset," Anakin lectured as his saber ignited. "Don't let your emotions control you."

Rey ignited her own saber, and carefully began sparring. " Don't let your fear control you. Talk to Luke."

Anakin didn't reply, but instead swung his saber. Rey was too busy defending herself and trying to get one offensive move in to bug him about it more, which was probably the point.

When they were done, Rey was sweaty, disgusting, and still annoyed. She had planned on going and trying to get through to Ben, but was too exhausted and on edge to risk it. As she tempted him towards the light he continued trying to pull her to the darkness. It was a battle of wills between Skywalkers-a terrifying prospect.

"Hey Rey," Achyls came running up to Rey just as the padawan was drying her hair. (Rey still wasn't used to how wonderful showers were. So much water.) "You know how to pilot a speeder, right?"

Rey knew how to fix and pilot the Millennium Falcon first try. Yes she knew how to fly a speeder, even if everything was some 50 years old. "Yeah, why? Where are you going?"

"Oh it's nothing big. There's a child with a high Midichlorian count I need to evaluate. It's a girl too, which just makes it more fun." It did not. Rey hated that the Jedi took Force Sensitive children the same way the First Order took Finn. It just seemed wrong. She understood that an untrained person using the Force was ripe pickings for the Dark Side, but still. There had to be better ways.

Rey didn't know what that better way was though, so begrudgingly accepted reality. And it wasn't Achyls fault that the rules existed. Plus, it being a girl was sorta exciting. No one could explain why the Jedi order was so predominantly male. There were definitely female Jedi, but theoretically there should have been the same number of females as males. There wasn't though, and Rey didn't get it. (Though, she did wonder if perhaps families hid their force-sensitive daughters more than their force-sensitive sons, thinking the life of a Jedi too violent or dangerous for a woman.)

"Yeah, I can fly you there. We better not get pulled over though I don't think the dates on my license would match up."

Achyls laughed and Rey smiled. The padawan was fairly sure she'd never had a female friend in her life. Her friends did sorta consist of BB-8, Finn, Han and Chewie though, so perhaps it wasn't that odd that none had been female. She needed more friends.

And Rey had one in Achyls. The knight was only a few years older than Rey and had just passed her trials a few months back. She was perpetually bored now that the war had ended, and found Rey's talk of the future fascinating. Rey just liked knowing that someone she wasn't related to wanted to hear what she had to say. Plus Achyls had a wonderful sense of humor, one worthy of a Jakkuvian scavenger.

"So how are things with your dad?" Achyls asked a few hours later. Rey was in a great mood because the child really wasn't strong enough to become a Jedi and would be properly raised by her family. Achyls figured this was the only time she'd get an honest answer. "I mean that whole thing has to be weird right?"

It was weird, but Rey had stopped thinking about it. "I just wish Anakin would grow up and talk to Luke… That is weird isn't it? Most people don't need to tell their grandfather to grow up." Achyls didn't need to say anything for Rey to know that yes, that was odd. "Also I just wish Kylo would stop being so stupid. I don't get why anyone would want to use the Dark Side when it obviously doesn't work."

"I mean I think it would work if the right person used it, but that person clearly hasn't come yet," Achyls admitted with a shrug. "You really care about Kylo Ren, don't you? Didn't he kill his father?"

Rey nodded. She still thought of Han's death all the time. "And so many others but… I don't know how to explain it to someone who has never had a family, but it's just different. Giving up on them isn't an option."

Achyls didn't respond and Rey didn't know how to explain it. Family was odd. It was an immediate bond that nothing could break, no matter how much you might want it to.

Rey almost crashed into a building as a sickening feeling crept up her spine. Without hesitation she rose above the other speeders and flew top speed back to the Temple. She didn't know when the Force-bond was created, or why, but Rey knew Ben was about to die.


	14. Chapter 14

I swear it was 11 only 10 minutes ago... sorry, lost track of time, here is your update for the 5th. Thanks again for the huge turnout. I'm getting hundreds of hits and so many reviews. I really appreciate it.

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Chapter 14

 _Help! Please! Kylo is being attacked!_ Rey called out with the Force, unsure if anyone could hear her. Maybe Luke and Anakin? She didn't know and she didn't have time to ask. Rey flew the speeder past its top speed, and didn't answer any of Achyls probing. She was too busy thinking about how she was to save her cousin. She had to save him. He could never turn back to his family if he died. Rey could not lose him, not when she was so close.

The speeder hadn't even fully landed when Rey jumped out, running towards Kylo. It didn't even cross her mind to stop and ask someone for help; she just ran. She would save him. She had to save him.

When Rey arrived, Kylo was rolling away from a red lightsaber blade. Rey ignited her own blade and attacked, using the Force to push Kylo out of the way. The attacker seemed surprised by Rey's intrusion, but quickly turned on her.

"Who are you?" Rey hissed, slashing at the attacker with everything she'd learned. He returned each movement skillfully, and attempted knocking her away with the Force. She was immovable though, stronger than him when it came to the Force. "Why do you want him dead?"

"He is a threat to my master," the man replied. He seemed to be the same species as Achyls, but was far uglier. It seemed the Dark Side brought disfigurement to all its users.

"Rey!" Kylo cried out from the corner where he was cowering-useless without a weapon or the Force. "It's Snoke. That is Snoke!"

Rey was so surprised that she faltered, and felt a lightsaber singing her arm. She quickly refocused, striking back with a renewed fervor. This was the man who'd turned Ben. This was the man responsible for all those who lost their lives to the First Order. Rey could save them all by ending this now. She could save Ben.

But she knew she was dangerously close to the Dark Side. A large part of Rey wanted Snoke to die so he could pay. She wanted revenge for all the things he'd done. She hated him for turning Ben into the monster Kylo Ren. Rey knew she had to bat away her anger, her hatred, or she'd be consumed by it, but it was so hard. What if she didn't have the power to save Ben? What if Ben died because Rey was afraid to use the Dark Side?

No! Rey couldn't think like that. Falling herself was not going to save Ben! She had to focus on protecting her cousin, not destroying this foe.

With her renewed sense of calm, Rey stuck out, moving expertly as she had on the Starkiller base with the added bonus of her training. She twisted and moved with deft certainty, knocking Snoke back with each move. The future Supreme Leader quickly realized he wasn't facing some ignorant padawan. He was facing a progeny of the Force, a Skywalker. Rey did not need years of training and immersion in the Dark Side to fight Snoke. Rey only needed to trust herself and move without question.

The battle shifted quickly. Suddenly Snoke realized he had to escape if he had any chance of living. He was going nowhere if Rey was still fighting though, and so he made a dumb move. Without any care, he jutted forward, cutting off Rey's lightsaber hand. The blue blade burned his face, cutting a deep gash in it, but the move did the job. Rey screamed out in pain, and fell, unable to fight on. Snoke took the opportunity to escape back out the whole in the cell, and into the speeder hovering outside.

Luke and Anakin Skywalker had been on opposite sides of the Temple when they heard Rey's cry for help. Neither of them took a second to contemplate her words, but set off at a run towards her. Along the way, they were met with a terrifying sight-Jedi Knight Achyls standing in the corridor, the bodies of other knights who'd come to Rey's aid at her feet.

"I would have liked to see my new apprentice kill her family herself," Achyls's smile sent chills through the Force. "But I cannot risk you getting there before Snoke's work is through."

Neither Skywalker cared to wonder how the betrayal was possible; they just ignited their lightsabers. Sith lords were, after all, their specialty. Anakin attacked first, moving with skill and a fury unbefitting a Jedi. Luke followed his father's lead, taking on Achyls with a calm manner, moving in harmony with his heartbeat.

The two were a force to behold, but Achyls had an advantage. She was trying to kill them. They were just trying to get past her to save Rey. She only had to hold them in battle long enough for…

 _Curses!_ She realized with horror. _Snoke has fled with the foolish boy still alive!_ Achyls plan was ruined by her apprentice's incompetence. There would be no turning Rey today, not if she was unconscious as the Force said. She'd failed, for now.

The former Jedi Knight Force jumped past her opponents, fleeing into the night. Luke and Anakin knew they should follow her, stop the Dark Side user before more harm came. They turned in the other direction and fled towards Rey instead.

Rey was unconscious in Ben's arms when they arrived. It didn't take long for either of them to realize that Rey had suffered from the Skywalker curse and was now missing a hand. A burst of uncharacteristic fury spread through Luke, who realized with a start that there was still a presence outside the window.

Achyls, infuriated by her apprentice's cowardness, had sent Snoke a curse through the Dark Side. His speeder was stalling, and it gave Luke enough time to jump in. Anakin cried after his son as Luke hung from the speeder, which suddenly started throwing Luke off the side. Anakin did not have time to think; he could only act. Calling upon the strength of the Force, and his sheer love for Luke, Anakin Skywalker lifted the Jedi Knight from his decent, and carefully returned him to the safety of the temple.

Luke looked shocked, and more than a little embarrassed. Anakin, sure that they would all live, was furious. "What was going through your Force-forsaken mind!" Anakin bellowed. "You're lucky you weren't killed!"

"I had to stop him before he hurt anyone else's daughter!" Luke cried, his usually calm tempter frayed by the recent events.

Anakin's temper was never calm, and this was not an exception. Still, his voice cracked as he spoke, "What about what he could do to somebody's son?"

The words shocked Luke. His anger disappeared, his light returned. Suddenly he realized why Anakin was so upset. Anakin was terrified. He'd been absolutely terrified for Luke, for his son. "I didn't think you were considering me your son."

"I don't want to consider you my son," Anakin spoke softer now, but the force behind his voice didn't disappear. His heart beat a thousand miles an hour as he imagined what would have happened to Luke if he hadn't been able to save him. His son could be dead. "Look what happens to my family!" Rey was still unconscious, knocked out by the horrific pain. "I don't want to have anyone else to lose!"

The fear of loss drove Anakin's every action, and it was a terrible thing. Darth Vader sprung from that fear with the hope of saving his family. Anakin still breathed while his son did, but if Luke had died…

Luke bent down next to Rey, carefully picking her up. She was too light for someone her age, probably from years of malnourishment on Jakku. He felt a twinge of guilt, knowing he was responsible for that neglect. There was nothing he could do now though, except get Rey to the med bay.

"Even if I die, you will still have me," Luke promised thinking of his pregnant mother. "But I cannot lose Rey. I cannot lose my daughter. You can't understand."

Anakin didn't know the weight his words held with Luke when he whispered, "No Luke, I am your father, of course I understand."

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AN part II: I'm sorry about that last line but I just have no self control so... Hope you enjoyed


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Rey awoke soon after and found herself surrounded by family. Luke and Anakin were chatting quietly off to the side, and Rey smiled. Good, they were finally talking. Padmé, who'd heard about the attack and couldn't be kept away, sat watching Rey's breathing. She was the first person to notice the girl awake, but didn't say anything.

Rey was acutely aware of the stump where her hand should have been. The pain was gone, but the feeling of loss reminded her of being left on Jakku. There was a hole where something important belonged. It seemed Rey could fill the hole for her family, but had to lose something in return.

But when Rey realized that Ben was sitting on a bed beside her, legs pulled up to his chest, eyes scanning the room, lips humming, she decided that a hand was a very small price to pay for a family.

Masters Yoda and Windu walked into the Med bay, eyes barely flickering over to Kylo. "We found Snoke," Mace announced. Anakin and Luke both tensed, ready to go fight, but the Master continued. "He's dead. It looks like his Master wasn't happy that the target lived."

"Any sign of Achyls?" Anakin wanted to find the traitor, immediately.

"No trace is there," Master Yoda admitted, and Rey realized that he knew she was awake. He didn't say anything though, which Rey appreciated. She wasn't quite ready to have everyone fretting over her quite yet. "Young Solo, know you where she might go?"

Ben flinched at being addressed as such. At least he didn't vehemently deny the name, though. "Snoke never told me about his master, except to say she'd trained under Darth Plagueis but decided to distance herself from the Sith and focus solely on understanding the Dark Side. But if she's anything like Snoke… When he got obsessed with something he was single minded. If she's decided that Rey is to be her new apprentice she will not stop until Rey turns or dies."

"But why Rey? Why does she want Rey as an apprentice?" Anakin felt helpless to defend his granddaughter from the fate that almost befell him. He'd felt the darkness when he killed the Tusken Raiders. There was an uncontrollable power there, and it left an insatiable hole. He did not want Rey to feel that.

Rey knew she would not. She'd already ruined Achyls plan by not killing Snoke. She had stopped Palpatine without anger. She had defied Kylo Ren on the Starkiller base. Rey would not be turned by Achyls just because the woman pretended to be a friend for a few days.

"She wants me because I killed Palpatine," Rey tries to push herself up, but found it difficult with one arm. Still, she managed it with a little help from her father. "He was about to make himself Emperor and I stopped him. It makes me look powerful."

Ben nodded, having been thinking the same thing. He had wanted Rey as an apprentice and he'd been only an apprentice. Rey was remarkably strong with the Force, and her power, if used for the Dark Side, would be terrifying. Terrifying was exactly what Achyls wanted.

"She must be stopped," Master Windu ordered looking at the Skywalkers and having a dangerous, but brilliant idea. "And you four must be the ones to do it." It didn't take any of them long to realize that 'you four' meant either Padmé or Ben was coming, and it obviously wasn't the pregnant senator. "He knows the enemy, and the Council has ruled that punishing him for crimes that haven't happened yet is unwise."

"Relearn the ways of the Light you must," Yoda told Ben with a nod on encouragement. Everyone liked that. If Yoda thought Ben could stay Light then he could. The darkness surrounding him had already begun to wax. "Succeed or fail learn much from this we shall."

Everyone realized what Yoda was saying. The Jedi Council was considering changing the rules on attachments, but would never do it if this mission failed. No pressure then.

A medic came in, and seemed disappointed to find Rey awake. "We're going to have to put you under again to attach the prosthetic hand," he told her looking around at all those gathered. "Whenever you've finished Masters I would like to do it."

"Done we are," Yoda declared. "May the Force be with you all."

They left and the medic set to work. Luke found himself growing tense as Rey was wheeled away. Why was it that three generations of Skywalkers had managed to lose a hand? Why couldn't he have protected her from that?

"She'll be okay," Padmé assured her son. She didn't need the Force to tell he was fretting over Rey; it was all over his face. "She's strong." Luke nodded. He knew Rey was strong. He knew how strong Rey was. He just wished she didn't have to be so strong.

"I'm sorry," Ben's voice came out as a whisper, and shocked even him. Kylo Ren was disappearing at an alarming rate, and he was terrified of who'd be left. Still, Rey would have died for him, and he could not forget it. He'd been terrible to her, and she repaid him with kindness. She'd used that kindness to save his life. Everything she said was true; the power was not in the dark side. "It's my fault Rey is hurt. She was trying to save me."

Anakin studied his grandson for one moment, and nodded. He understood Luke's love of flying. He understood Rey's determination to prove herself. He understood Ben's darkness. "So prove to yourself you are worth saving. When Rey wakes up we need to leave, and you have to figure out where we're going. Like Master Windu said, you know her the best."

Ben didn't find that very comforting considering he had never met her. Still, he tried to think as a Knight of Ren, considering she'd founded the Knights of Ren. Where would he go if he was trying to turn someone to the Dark Side?

"We should start on Jakku," Ben realized feeling stupid for not having thought of it earlier. Achyls knew that was where Rey spent most of her life, even if it was a Jakku of the future. One has to understand their enemy if they're to make their enemy understand them. Achyls would go to Jakku and try to find answers about Rey there.

"Oh great," Anakin muttered flashing his wife a grin. "Sand."


	16. Chapter 16

Most of you guys are great. I thank you so, so, so much for your lovely response to what I do when I'm bored. However, for those of you unsure, if there is a swear in there, it's probably not constructive criticism. Have a nice day and continue to be lovely!

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Chapter 16

They decided to give Rey a night in the med wing, so she would be stronger for their trip. A part of Anakin didn't want her to go at all. He knew what it was like when you lost a hand, but Rey would be safer with them then just waiting for Achyls to show up again. Still, he just didn't like the idea of an injured Rey being on a dangerous trip.

But, if Anakin was perfectly honest, he wouldn't have liked any version of Rey on a dangerous trip. Talented she may be, but she was still so young and untrained. _She's the same age as you were when you married Padmé. That's not all that young._

But it was, Anakin told the voice. He'd been so young when he married Padmé. He was still young really, but the war made it less so. War ages all it doesn't manage to kill. No, the real reason he didn't want Rey coming was the same reason he didn't want Luke coming- Anakin was scared of losing them.

"You're welcome to come to our apartment for the night, you know," Padmé offered, gently placing a hand on her son's shoulder. Luke sat by Rey's side, the girl still out from her surgery. Anakin noticed that her hand was slightly more realistic than his own, but far from what Luke had. It was a pity. Perhaps if they were in Rey's time they could have just attached her real hand back on. "There's a room for you."

Luke looked up and smiled at the thought of having a room in his parents' home. Still, he had to shake his head in refusal. "I'm going to stay with Rey. I wouldn't want her to be alone when she wakes." Anakin wanted to stay as well, but he knew Padmé, in her present condition, needed rest. No way was she going to go back to their apartment alone if Anakin stayed. So, he went with his wife, confident that Luke and Rey would be okay together.

Padmé and Anakin lay in bed, her head resting gently on his chest. "I need you to promise me something Ani."

"Anything my angel," he whispered gently kissing her soft, sweet hair.

"I need you to come home too."

Anakin was surprised by her words. He always came home to her. What would possibly make her think that coming home wasn't his intention? "We'll be fine, all of us will be fine. I'm not going to miss my children's birth after all, not in this lifetime."

Padmé looked up at those shockingly blue eyes, and Anakin knew she meant her words. "I'm serious Ani, I need you. Don't think that just because Luke and Leia have already been conceived that makes your death acceptable."

He wanted to promise her he was having no such thought, but it would have been a lie. It had crossed his mind that even should he die Luke and Leia would be born. If they were born that meant Rey and Ben could be born as well. His whole family would live even if he died. But if Luke died Rey would never be born and if Rey died… No one should live long enough to see their child die, never mind their grandchild. Force, Anakin would be devastated if Ben died! No. Perhaps it was selfish, but Anakin knew his death was the only acceptable one. He would gladly die for any of his family.

"I'll be careful," he finally settled on telling his wife. Padmé was no fool; she knew that he had avoided the promise. "All of us will come back, okay? I'm not going to lose my family, not now that we're together."

Padmé sighed, knowing Anakin did not plan on making a promise he couldn't keep. "I love you Ani."

Anakin felt her settle into sleep before kissing her again. "I love you too, my angel."

Luke drifted in and out of sleep as he waited by Rey's side. Kylo Ren, Ben, slept, or at least pretended to sleep, on the cot next to her. He wasn't injured, but they didn't feel like giving him quarters just for the night, so the Med Center it was.

Luke wasn't sure what to think of his nephew. The man no longer seemed surrounded by darkness, but it was still there. He was clearly tortured by the sides within him. Luke wanted to help, he really did, but he didn't know how. His father's redemption came in the form of a single act and a quick end. Ben had to live in the light and avoid the dark for the rest of his days. It would be far harder for him to keep the darkness in the past than it was for Luke's father, who only lived a few minutes in the Light Side.

"Luke?" The Jedi was startled by his daughter's whispered voice. She sat up, painfully aware of the new, mechanical hand. "It's so strange."

Luke looked down at his own hand. It had been a long time since Bespin, and yet sometimes he still expected his real hand to be there. Some things, like having a daughter only a few years younger than you, you can get used to with time. Some things, like losing a father or a hand, you never forget, not for one day.

"You should try and fall back asleep," Luke urged, carefully pressing his daughter back down on the bed. She was a force to be reckoned with though, and didn't move an inch. Instead Rey sat up further, and looked over at Ben.

"How do I save him?"

She already had saved him from Snoke, but that wasn't the question. The question everyone was wondering was how they saved Ben from himself. "Patience, love… He hates himself at the moment, and he won't be free from the darkness until he forgives himself of all he's done. So first we need to forgive him, and then we show him that he can be redeemed."

It was easier said than done though, and they all knew it. Still, Rey said nothing, but instead lay back as her father urged. "Do you… do you think you told me stories? When I was little?"

Luke had no way of knowing for sure, but he imagined so. As a child he'd dreamed of hearing his father's stories, surely he would have told his own. "I think so, but you not remembering means I get to tell them all again."

Rey laughed a little at his words. "Don't you think I'm a little old to be hearing bedtime stories?"

Perhaps she was. Rey was undoubtedly a woman. Yet, Luke could imagine what she looked like in her memories. She'd been so small and innocent. Really she was still so small and innocent, just a child, just his child. "On Tatooine there is this canyon," Luke began not caring if she was too old to hear stories. "My friend Biggs and I would always fly our T-16s through it. We'd race and race for hours. I usually won, but one day my ignition stalled, and he got a good head start. I refused to lose, but I knew I couldn't catch up. The only way I could possibly catch up would be if I went through this narrow passage with a sharp turn at the end. It would bring me to the finish line with plenty of time to spare, but only if I didn't die. We called it the Suicide Run because the only person who ever tried it died in the attempt. I'd even promised my aunt I would never attempt it, but that day I decided I had to win. I was fifteen you see, and full of stupidity. I flew full speed in, waiting for any sign of the impending turn. Every couple seconds I would panic and consider pulling up, out of the canyon all together, but I continued on. There is no way I could have seen the turn, but I sensed it and didn't even get a scratch on my hopper. Biggs was so surprised when he got to the finish line and I was already there…" Luke's heart ached thinking of his fallen friend. Biggs didn't deserve what he got. "I know now that it was the Force that guided me, but then we all just thought I'd gotten lucky. It made me the biggest celebrity for months though, which really did nothing good for my ego. I tried it again a second time, just to prove I could, but I didn't rely on my instincts. I just tried to turn when I thought I remembered I was supposed to. I ended up taking it too early and pulling a wing off. I woke up a whole week later and discovered I wasn't such a big celebrity anymore."

Rey couldn't even imagine Luke as this haughty pilot, but perhaps this story was why. He'd learned to be humble, especially when it came to those impossible things the Force let him do. His stupidity and bad choices helped him make better ones when the moment really mattered.

Rey loomed over at her cousin and hoped perhaps things would work out the same way for Ben.


	17. Chapter 17

A lot of you have been asking for this chapter, so enjoy.

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Chapter 17

They set off early the next morning, and, after Luke and Anakin fought over the pilot seat, were in hyperspace. The hyperdrive wasn't nearly as fast as the one on the Millennium Falcon, and they found themselves with plenty of time to talk. Rey and Luke chattered lightly, the younger girl enthralled with her father's tales of rebellion. Anakin was interested as well, but he noticed Ben sitting in the back of the ship looking sullen, and decided it was time to talk to his wayward grandson.

"So, Ben, Rey tells me you're a fan of mine," Anakin teased sliding down to sit next to the figure clad in black. Kylo Ren didn't even look over, but instead turned his head away in indignation.

"My name is not Ben, I am Kylo Ren," he promptly declared. Anakin wasn't surprised that he was regressing. More than anyone Anakin knew that the Dark Side didn't let go easily. As much as he liked to believe Darth Vader was gone forever he could still feel the Dark Side, pressing him to turn, to be powerful. But that wasn't the kind of power Anakin wanted. He would not destroy his family, not in this timeline. He refused.

"You know I cancelled by subscription to Dark Side Daily," Anakin finally decided to say, as ridiculous as it was. Kylo took himself far too seriously. You can't get rid of the Dark Side until you can laugh. "The price of it was just getting to be too high. But last I heard Kylo Ren was determined to kill Rey. Now I know as a fact that Luke wouldn't have the energy he does if he had stayed up all night, which means you, Ben, had plenty of chances to kill Rey and didn't."

Kylo stood up, and Anakin was astounded by his immaturity. Though Anakin was born first chronologically, Ben was the one who'd lived the most years. Yet he acted more like a child than Rey, who was over a decade his junior. "The Knights of Ren follow a code of honor," Kylo Ren objected. "I owe Rey my life, and as such have spared hers. We are now even, and when I get back to the First Order she will be my enemy once again."

"The First Order won't exist if you go back!" Anakin agreed with Rey's assessment. Ben was trying so hard to be Dark, but he wasn't. "There is no Empire from which it can rise. We're going to kill Achyls before she can begin the Knights of Ren. You're not fighting for the losing team. You're fighting for a team that doesn't exist, and never will."

Kylo withdrew his lightsaber and went to rage, but found himself disarmed by Anakin, who pulled the saber to him easily. "The ship never did anything to you. Face it Ben, you need to give up."

"You might have given up on the Dark Side, gone soft," Kylo Spit heading towards the back of the ship. "But I have not."

Anakin sighed, deciding that that conversation couldn't have gone worse. Still, Ben just needed time to cool off and he'd return. Anakin would give him space because he trusted the man to make the right choice in the end, just as he had.

"And then Master Yoda just lifts it up no problem," Luke was telling Rey when Anakin walked in. Anakin sighed easily, letting the Light of Luke and Rey overcome the Darkness that Kylo's anger had re-awoken. Rey and Luke were so much like Padmé, so bright and shining. So good. Ben… Ben was far too much like Anakin. It made him wonder if perhaps Leia was as well, in her own way. Anakin couldn't wait to meet her.

"You think that's bad?" Anakin countered sitting down and grinning. "When I was twelve Obi-Wan and I got in a fight. I thought stealing a speeder and flying away would be a good option. Obi-Wan got Master Yoda to physically pull me back. It was terrifying!"

Luke and Rey imagined a young Anakin freaking out as his speeder went the wrong way. The images of his face they conjured were so ridiculous both father and daughter burst out laughing.

"He's turned back into Kylo, hasn't he?"

Anakin wasn't surprised by Rey's question. She was both perceptive and in tune with the Force. Anakin would have been surprised if she hadn't picked up on Kylo's sour mood. "He'll come around. He's scared. Returning to the light means taking responsibility for his actions. He wasn't want to be saddled with that much regret. But give him time and I'm sure he'll see reason."

Rey shook her head. "He doesn't need time. He needs a good smack over the head," she decided standing up and grabbing Kylo's lightsaber from where Anakin put it down. Anakin and Luke were both tempted to stop her, but they didn't. They weren't to be Ben's redemption. Rey would be. She would be the ray of light piercing his dark shell.

The ship they were given was relatively small, but had enough living quarters for Luke and Anakin to share, with Rey and Kylo getting their own. Rey hesitated for only a second before knocking on the door behind which Ben Solo hid.

There was no answer but for his humming, yet Rey went in anyway. Broken things littered the floor, but Rey took no notice, stepping over them without even looking. Kylo didn't look at her either, not until she handed the saber to him at least.

"What is to stop me from killing you with this the same way I killed my father?"

Rey tried not to think of Han's death. She tried to remember that it was Kylo Ren, Knight of Ren, who killed Han, not Ben Solo. Ben Solo was consumed by the Dark Side, but he could be reborn. Rey would see to it.

"Nothing but your good sense," she declared, sitting on the hard bed next to him. He seemed surprised by the intimacy of the move, but didn't say anything. He didn't even turn his dark eyes to her. "When did we first meet? Tell me about it."

The jarring reminder that he was her cousin, Ben, was enough to make him look up. "I thought you said you had your memories?"

"Luke showed me how to get them, but I don't remember being a baby. No one does."

Kylo Ren did not want to answer, but Ben found himself speaking. "You were a baby when we met. My parents told me we were going to visit my uncle and new baby cousin. When we got there I decided that you were the ugliest little thing, no more than a few days old, and already wrinkly." Despite himself he laughed, and it sounded like Hoth melting. "I thought only old people were wrinkly in those days, so I didn't get why a baby was." Perhaps it clicked in his mind that he was being friendly, because he frowned. "I wanted to hold you but Luke said I couldn't because he didn't trust me. He never trusted me."

"Walk out there and ask him if he trusts you," Rey dared knowing he never would. "See, that's your problem Ben. You want to be hated because it makes hating easier. Well you're not hated. Not by me. Not by Luke or Anakin. Not by your parents. The only person who hates you is you."

Kylo stood up, crossing over to the other side of the room, unlighted saber in hand. "Get out."

Rey didn't move from the bed. "Why do you hate yourself?"

"I SAID GET OUT!" he cried, slashing up the wall with a quick stroke. Rey saw, much to her horror, the Dark Side swirling towards him, filling Kylo with power and pain. He quickly turned away from the ruined wall and towards her, eyes burning yellow. Panicked, Rey lit her saber, but neither attacked. The two cousins just stared at each other until his eyes faded back to black. "Please, leave."

Rey did, and found that, somehow, despite everything, she was filled with a hope.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The four Skywalkers all had very different reactions to arriving on Jakku. Kylo didn't blink an eye. It was just another planet he'd one day order a slaughter on. It didn't matter to him. It was just another planet.

Anakin was physically revolted by the desert. He hadn't been to one since his mother's death, and found the sand no more appealing than it ever had been. He told Padmé that he hated sand, and in a way it was true. However it wasn't really the sand he hated. It was the scorching sun. It was the smell of salt that overpowered everything. And perhaps some of it was the sand. Mostly, however, it was the sense of powerlessness it gave Anakin. He could not forget what it meant to be a slave when he saw a desert. He could not forget that his mother died in a desert, and so did all those who took her, and the ones who had no role in it. Anakin hated the desert, because it reminded him of his worst self.

Luke, on the other hand, found the desert to be a soft place. Everything was so quiet, so peaceful. It reminded him of speeders in Beggar's Canyon, of hugs from Aunt Beru and learning to fly. The day Luke left Tatooine was the day the Empire fell, it was true. But it was also the day he ceased to be a child anymore. Ceased to be free and became one of a dying race-the last Jedi. He found peace in the desert, in the life it had given him. So many years he'd wanted to get away, but standing on Jakku Luke decided he should return to Tatooine, if only for a little while. He'd told Ben Kenobi there was nothing left for him there, but there were memories, and those could be as priceless as gold.

Rey did not think of Tatooine. She looked around her world and thought of cold nights in a fallen At-At, of a thousand lines counting the days since she'd been left. The desert hardened her, but it also raised her. She was who she was because of the ship-filled wastelands she scavenged. But those wastelands weren't ship filled yet. The Battle of Jakku would never happen. The world Rey was raised in didn't exist. She looked upon the world much the same her cousin did. It was just another planet; her home didn't exist at all.

"If Achyls thinks she can learn something of me here, she's very wrong," Rey decided looking at the landscape. "Are you sure she's even here?"

No, no they weren't. And even if she was they didn't know how they could possibly find her. It reminded Anakin of hunting Grievous and Dooku. You knew they were out there, taunting you, but finding them was more difficult then fighting them.

"We should find a settlement, ask if anyone has seen her," Luke suggested stepping from the ship into the soft sand. "Rey, lead the way."

She did, but she wasn't sure if she should. All the settlements she knew of were scavenger towns, and there was nothing to scavenge on this Jakku. Perhaps they had once been mining towns? Unkar might have said that once? Rey couldn't remember. She hated Unkar Plutt, and never listened to his stories. If only she'd learned sooner that you can learn from even the most despicable beings.

They set off silently behind Rey, trudging through the desert with grim faces and many memories. Kylo, who, despite Rey's prodding, had refused to change out of his black clothes, began to overheat quickly. They did not slow down though. Ben was not raised in a desert, but the others were. Stopping to rest would not help you survive; it would only guarantee your death.

Rey found her way to the Niima Outpost by nightfall, but it was nothing more than an abandoned moisture farm. Luckily for them, Luke knew exactly how to rig it up so they at least had enough water that they didn't have to break into their rations. They were all too tired to talk much that night. Anakin took first watch, and the others settled down to sleep in the cooling sand.

"Rey, it's your watch," Luke felt bad stirring his daughter awake, but he knew she would be furious if they decided she wasn't worthy of a watch. Besides, she'd been asleep for hours, and they'd all be getting up soon enough with the rising sun.

Rey did get up, and, after wiping the sand from her eyes and everywhere else, she began her watch. The night air was cool, but not uncomfortably so. It reminded her of a thousand other nights on Jakku, and she began playing her usual games.

It was different this time though. As she looked up at the stars to guess which one her parents were from, she knew. As she 'imagined' the landscape around her, it was the Force she was tapping into.

The Force… it felt odd on Jakku. Perhaps it was the lack of life on the planet so scarcely populated. Had it always felt so strange? Rey didn't know. Last time she was on Jakku she thought the Force and Jedi were legends, not a part of her. Still, it couldn't possibly have felt the same. Rey would have remembered if the planet always gave her the sense of death…

She immediately woke the others. No. Jakku did not feel like death. Jakku was a prison, not a cemetery. There was something very, very wrong going on.

"We're not alone," she told them as the others woke up. Quickly they sprung into action, and, four lightsabers buzzing, they set out to find what it was that Rey was sensing.

It was too dark to see anything in the pre-dawn night, but the Force sizzled like the sand. Luke was amazed with how much the Force had changed in the short time he'd been asleep. Rey was right to wake them. Something was very, very wrong.

But what? They all knew that something was off, that the Dark Side was radiating from the mounds of sand, but there was no one to be found. They were about to call it quit, retreat to their camp and wait for the sun to reveal the planet's secrets, when Luke, Anakin, and Ben heard a terrifying scream coming from a girl-Rey.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Luke, Anakin, and Ben ran towards where Rey's scream came from, and found a horrific sight. A dozen shadowy creatures, shaped like a cross between a Wookie and a Gungan, rose from the sandy hills. The Jedi could barely distinguish them from the darkness. It was only when they passed by the light of a saber that they could be seen at all, but the Jedi knew they were there. They oozed darkness and burned through the Force. It was impossible to miss them.

"Force Wraiths," Anakin cursed as if that could possibly mean something to Luke or Ben, raised in a time with few Force-users. "They're the Dark Side embodied."

They felt like it too. Even the bravest soul would have cowered before them. But you can cower and still fight for your life, as the Skywalkers did. These wraiths had to be under the control of Achyls, which meant she had Rey. If Achyls thought that a few wraiths would keep Rey's family from coming for her they were sorely mistaken. She was not to be left behind on Jakku again.

While Rey's family fought the wraiths, she was dragged kicking and screaming by a couple very-corporal men. At one point she managed to throw them off, summoning the Force to do her bidding, but they too knew a side of the Force, and together disarmed Rey.

"We are the Knights of Ren. We cannot be defeated."

Rey gritted her teeth at that assessment, but said nothing. They were bringing her right to Achyls, and that was where Rey wanted to be. Soon enough her family would come and they could end the terror of Rey's time before it even began.

Achyls's ship was impressive, the size of a Star destroyer and half the pompous flair. Rey was forced down halls and finally thrown into a large and ornate room. She wished she'd been thrown into a cell. At least them she'd know she was in for pain, not lies.

"Do not attempt to use Jedi Mind tricks on us," one of her guards warned, and Rey cursed herself for telling Achyls so much. "We are impervious."

They probably weren't impervious, but knowing it was coming would certainly keep them from falling victim to Rey, who really had about a week of training under her belt. Cursing everything, Rey sat on the floor, and meditated, trying to find the Light Side in a place so surrounded by Dark.

One of the first things Anakin had taught her about was the living Force. _We are the Force's progeny, more than anyone. It lives in us as it does in all life. When you're at peace you can become one with it, even in the midst of a battle._

Rey was at peace when Achyls came in. The Light surrounded her, rejuvenating her and giving her strength beyond compare. Achyls saw that strength and relished in it. If her apprentice, Snoke, thought that pitiful Kylo Ren was worthy of training when Rey was an option then he was a fool. Rey had power beyond that of Kylo. Beyond that of Achyls herself-not that the Master Knight would ever admit it.

"Hello Rey."

"Hello Achyls."

Achyls smiled, sitting down on Rey's bed and crossing her legs. "I do hope my knights weren't particularly rough on you. If they were feel free to chop their heads off. Even if they weren't feel free to chop their heads off."

"No. Don't even try to convince me to turn. I never will use the Dark Side. I've seen how its power corrupts and destroys. I have a family. I finally have a family. I will not allow the Dark Side to destroy that again. You will never win."

Achyls doubted that. "Have you ever heard of a Gray Jedi?" Of course Rey hadn't. She'd barely heard of the Jedi. "They're people who use both the Light and the Dark Sides of the Force. They are not consumed by the Dark Side as a Sith is, or limited by the Light like a Jedi. If a powerful Force user was to become a Gray Jedi they would undoubtedly be the most powerful person in all of history."

Rey couldn't help but wonder if that was true. Could you use the Dark Side without it controlling you? If so was it really wrong then…

No! Rey would not allow herself to have such ridiculous thoughts. Did Anakin think he was going to let the Dark Side control him when he became Darth Vader? Did Ben think he was going to lose himself in becoming Kylo Ren? Perhaps those with little power or sway over the Force could walk such a precarious line, but not a Skywalker. She was, in many ways the Force itself. She had both sides, but she only chose to use the Light. She would not destroy everything and use the Dark.

"If you are offering to teach me I will have to say no, but thank you, for it is generous of you to provide ways in which I can kill you." Rey didn't want to kill Achyls though. She wanted to stop the Dark Side, but not kill Achyls. That was what made her light.

Achyls hissed, but quickly straightened herself out. "I see you're distraught over being separated from your family again. Why don't I give you some time to yourself to think? I'll be back soon, and by then I'm sure you'll have realized that you can't keep your family if you don't use the power of the Dark Side." Rey doubted it. She'd seen too much. She knew this story. She would not fall.

Anakin's leg got caught in a ditch of sand, and he fell. A wraith came down upon him, and the Jedi rolled to the side, easily destroying it. Wraiths weren't particularly dangerous enemies physically, but psychologically they could take a toll. Ben, who'd been having such a hard time with the Dark Side anyways, was basically incapacitated against the wraiths. Anakin himself was struggling to keep the Darkness from overcoming him. Each time it tried to, however, he just pictured Padmé and their family. Instantly the Light within him sparked, and he defeated another round.

As the sun rose, the last of the wraiths were defeated. The three didn't even take the time to catch their breath before setting off after Rey's tracks. They were coming for her. She was not being left behind.


	20. Chapter 20

Enjoy the pain. This is the last chapter before the epilogue.

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Chapter 20

The tracks led Luke, Anakin, and Ben towards a huge ship, which, for some reason, hadn't taken off. None of them liked that. It meant that Achyls wanted them to find her. Achyls wanted them to come after Rey. Surely Achyls wanted Rey to watch her family die, breaking the girl's resolve to be light. It would have broken Anakin. In another life just the threat of it broke Anakin.

"Are we really just going to walk into a trap?" Ben voiced looking at the intimidating ship.

Luke and Anakin shared a smile. They'd both heard enough of the other's tales to know that Anakin's words rung true. "Walking into traps is our specialty."

The Knights of Ren quickly disarmed the 'surrendering' Jedi, and they were brought before Achyls. She did not smile, fully aware that they thought themselves to be playing some trick. Well, she wasn't going to give them time to do so. "Bring our guest to us at once," she ordered one of her Knights.

"Whatever plan you have Skywalkers, it won't work," she warned them with a dangerous gleam. "I have a dozen knights all of whom will gladly die for me, and all of whom I will gladly let die. They are each worth a Sith at least, and you've struggled to defeat those in the past."

Luke stood with the same defiance he had when facing the Emperor. "Then we were alone, divided. Together we will prevail."

"You're hopelessly naïve," Achyls waved off, sitting in her large chair as if it was the throne to the empire. Perhaps in her mind it would be. "I do hope for your sake that they reward naivety in the afterlife."

"Let go of me you slimy…" Rey's voice echoed in the room as she was led in. Relief was clear in her eyes when she saw her family, but panic quickly replaced it. They were hopelessly outnumbered, and their lightsabers had been taken away. Undoubtedly they would fight, but this might just be the one they finally lose.

"You are not a fool Rey," Achyls told the girl as she arrived. "You're thinking that you cannot win against my forces, and you are correct. None of you know what it is like to go up against an army of the Dark Side, but I can assure you it is not pleasant. Surely your cousin has told you that Knights of Ren have a strict honor code. I promise on my life that if you swear yourself as my apprentice, the same as your grandfather did to that fool Palpatine, I will allow your family to have a place in our new order. I will build them a grand estate, a whole planet on which they can thrive. You will be with them. Deny me, however, and you will die, and then I will go to Coruscant and ensure that Senator Amidala dies as well. Even if, by some impossible trick, you were able to defeat me and my men, you won't all survive. Do you really want to risk your grandfather, your cousin, your father? Perhaps you do not want power, but you do want a family. Don't throw away what you've waited for your whole life for over some foolish notion of right and wrong."

A very large part of Rey wanted to listen to her, because Achyls was right. They would not all survive such a fight. Even if they won they wouldn't all live to see it. And if they lost… Rey could not stand the thought of losing her family.

Which was why, learning from her grandfather, she said "no."

"So be it," Achyls decreed, her sad tone implying that she truly did care about Rey, in a twisted way. "Kill them."

The Knights of Ren came out of the shadows, and terror fell. They fought with terrifying strength, and skills of the greatest Jedi Knight. Anakin and Luke together managed to knock two into each other, and quickly got blades. Seeing the red sabers in their hands was terrifying, but they did not have time to linger. There were a dozen other knights, and they had family to protect.

Achyls came after Rey with the strength of a legion. She bore dual blades, the blue one of her Jedi self, and the red of her Sith. Rey realized that Achyls's strength came from her not forsaking the Light completely. She fought with the strength of a dozen Kylo Ren's. Rey didn't even have a weapon.

"Any time you want to give in just kneel," Achyls cursed, as Rey danced away from her blades. "I am a forgiving person."

Rey didn't doubt it, but she would not kneel. She jumped to the side, trusting the Force to guide her. She could not win though. She had no true training and no weapon at all. It was only a matter of time before Rey made one wrong move, and it was all over.

Ben did not know these Knights of Ren, but he knew their training. He was stronger than them, their leader. With a powerful burst he tossed one across the room, and heard the man die as he hit a beam. Kylo did not care. He summoned the dead Knights saber and moved with deadly speed, taking down all who came near him. He was filled with rage and the Dark Side, and none of Achyls pitiful Knights knew the Dark Side like Kylo Ren.

Luke found himself trying to keep tabs on Rey while trying not dying himself. The battle was not going well. With each knight he managed to fight off, another seemed to replace it. They were too strong. He'd fought Vader, but Vader never wanted him dead. These Knights shared no such inhibitions. With each step, they moved to cut off another of Luke's hands. With each parry, they tried to drive their sabers through his heart. The fight was vicious, and Luke quickly lost sight of Rey. He could only pray she was alright.

Rey knew the blade was going to hit her before it did. She went to jump, sensing the strike, but it was too late. Her eyes shut, bracing for death, but no pain came. Two equally horrifying screams burst out at once, but neither were Rey's. Her eyes flew open.

At her feet lay Achyls body, a saber straight through her heart. The remaining Knights panicked, and either fell or fled. Luke, Anakin, and Rey didn't care to follow them though. They were far more concerned by the sight of another body lying by Rey, a saber in his chest as well.

Rey could barely see straight as she bent down next to Ben. He had a crooked smile on his face, and the scar Rey left on the Starkiller base barely seemed noticeable next to his bright teeth. He held himself propped up by one arm, but fell on Rey as she bent towards him. "No," Rey whispered knowing her eyes did not deceive her. Kylo Ren, no, Ben Solo, had just taken a lightsaber to the chest for her. "Anakin! Father! Help! Please Force help!"

"Shhh," Ben told her, reaching up to wipe a tear away from her eye. "Shhh Reyna, it's alright. It's okay. There's nothing to be done, and that's okay. You're not meant to come back to the Light Side and live. It gives you too much time to fall again. This… this is the way it has to be."

No! Rey shook her head furiously; Ben could not die! Not now that he was so close to being redeemed. Not now that he was redeemed. "I just got my cousin back. I can't lose you. You need to hold on so you can see me all wrinkled again. You need to… you can't…"

"Don't try to save me, don't," he whispered, each word more difficult to get out than the last. "Please. I am Ben Solo, and I sacrificed myself for my cousin. Don't take that away from me. Don't take away my light." His smile had faltered a little, but it lit back up. "You Rey, you're my light."

Anakin and Luke hung back, fully aware that there was nothing that could be done, and knowing Rey was the only family Ben wanted in his final moments.

"You know I lied to you," he whispered looking up towards Rey as if she was the sun itself. "I didn't... I never wanted to kill you. Your father thought I would, but I didn't. I never wanted to hurt you. You were always the brightest thing in my life, the only thing that kept me from darkness. It was only when you were gone that Snoke could get to me, because my love for you had always kept him away. Do you remember Reyna? Do you remember how much I love you?"

"And a light, is only a light, if you can see it," Rey sung, unsure where the words came from. Ben had been humming the tune for days though, and Rey understood why. Suddenly, she remembered, why. Tears dripped down her face as she nodded, remembering how much he loved her. How much she loved her big cousin Ben. "I remember Benny. I won't ever forget."

Ben nodded, his chest barely rising with a breath. "And my little ray of light, will guide me home, and my little ray…" His song cut out, and Rey broke down clutching his empty body in one first, and last, hug.

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Cheesy? Yes cheesy. I only ever do cheesy.


	21. Epilogue

FYI I know very little about EU, but stole some names for simplicity's sake. It's not the actual characters, just the names.

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Epilogue

Rey closed her eyes to wipe away her tears, and opened them to her quarters in the Jedi temple. She sat up quickly, very, very confused. How had she gotten back to the Temple? Had she passed out? Why would she have passed out, she wasn't injure… Ben saw to that.

She swung her legs off the bed, and dressed quickly. Her saber, Anakin's saber, was nowhere to be found, but there was another saber with her boots that Rey clipped to her belt. Ben only died because she'd been without a weapon on Jakku. She didn't want to be without a saber again.

In the corridor, a padawan, probably fifteen, was walking by. He stopped when Rey came out, and gave her a confused look. "Reyna, are you just getting up? They don't Knight you for sleeping you know."

Rey studied the boy. He had fair, freckled skin which had probably never seen a desert sun. Sky blue eyes, flaming red hair, and a little padawan braid in the back. There was something oddly familiar about the boy, but Rey didn't remember seeing him around the Temple. Granted she hadn't been around the Temple long enough to really know anyone but her family and Achyls…

Yet he apparently knew her. He knew the name Reyna which not even the Council knew. How was that possible? Rey was unsure, and found a hand on her saber, just in case. "Who are you?"

"Funny," the boy laughed rolling his eyes as if Rey usually played tricks on him. "I'm serious though, Jacen is looking for you, and if you start slacking this close to your Trails you'll never pass."

Trials, did he mean Jedi trials? Rey was nowhere near here Jedi trials; she'd barely begun training. And she didn't even know who this 'Jacen' was. Her master was Anakin. "Where's Luke, or Anakin?"

The boy's light spirit began to fall, and he stepped closer to Rey, eyeing her with the same wariness she'd been eying him. "Did you have a row or something?" Rey hadn't realized it, but he had her accent. Perhaps he was from the same planet as her mother… "Since when do you call them that? I think Father and Grandfather is a bit more appropriate."

Had Rey's heritage become such public knowledge in the past day that even random Padawans knew about it? Why? And why did this boy sound like he'd spoken to Rey often? They'd never met. "Who are you?"

"Reyna, this isn't funny anymore," he answered, and Rey felt his anxiety through the Force. She was scaring him, but he was scaring her. Why was he pretending to know her? Why was he calling her Reyna? "It's me, Ben."

The name made her heart ache. "Ben is dead. Why would you use that name to taunt me?"

The boy, 'Ben', decided that was enough. Reyna had obviously hit her head or something because she was acting completely nuts. He reached out to grab her arm, and found her bright yellow lightsaber blade hissing by him. "Don't touch me!" she cried.

The boy backed off, but kept one hand on his own saber. Someone else must have heard the blade, because a girl, who looked to be the boy's age, came running down the hall. Her blue eyes grew large at the sight, and the boy waved her away with three words, "Get my father."

Father? Why would a Padawan know his father? Why did nothing make sense to Rey? She held her saber high, not attacking, but ready to defend if this boy tried to touch her again. "I was on Jakku with Luke and Anakin," Rey told him, her voice quivering. "How did I get back to my room?"

"Reyna, you've never been to Jakku," the boy insisted, holding his hands up to prove his good intentions. "I think you're sick, because there is obviously something wrong with your memory. The Masters will be able to help you just calm down."

Rey wasn't sure she could. She was so confused, and Ben, her Ben, was dead. She wasn't sure calm was coming any time soon. "I'm not sick! I was raised on Jakku! I spent over a decade there, and I was just there earlier, or yesterday, or whatever. Achyls was there and Ben…"

The boy looked ready to insist that he was Ben and Rey was deluded, but he was caught off by a voice that actually was familiar to Rey. "Reyna Skywalker, put the lightsaber down!"

Luke was standing there, but he looked different. It wasn't the young Luke Rey had come to known, or even the haggard hermit she first saw. This Luke was older, but clean shaven and healthy. It was the Luke who should have been, but how? Rey didn't understand, but she did know who it was. Her father was there and he could explain things; she shut her saber off easily. "Luke, what is going on? Did you carry me back from Jakku?"

Luke's face, which had previously been filled with fury, softened, and melted into a smile. "Rey?" he whispered, and she nodded, unsure how that was even a question. She was beginning to get though that perhaps her world had been turned upside down for the third time in a matter of weeks.

"Ben, can you please go get your grandparents for me?" Luke told the boy with a reassuring nod.

The boy nodded, worried about Rey, but glad to be leaving it up to Luke to solve. "Yes father."

He ran off, and Rey found herself rooted to the ground. "Father?" She finally asked, making sure she'd heard him right. "You're his father? His name really is Ben? He's my brother? I don't have a brother!"

"You didn't," Luke admitted smiling. Everything was finally falling into place. The day he'd waited so long for was here. "Because your grandfather was Darth Vader, and your cousin Kylo Ren. Neither of those things ever happened here. None of the life you remember occurred." Rey wanted to crawl back in her bed. "Come, Anakin and Padmé will be waiting for us in the Council room."

Rey was glad to know that apparently they were both alive in this alternate future, but she was still so confused. How could all her memories just be wrong? How could the life she lived not actually be her life?

When they got to the council chambers, Rey was greeted by the sight of her very old grandparents. It was shocking to see them looking so small and old considering they'd been young and vibrant only the day before, for Rey at least. For them it had been a very long time, almost sixty years. "Rey's back," Luke confirmed for them, and both smiled. Padmé didn't waste a second, and hugged her granddaughter quickly.

The story came together quickly after that. Once Ben was redeemed their mission was complete. Luke and Rey had been yanked back to the moment they were pulled from, but Anakin lived through time linearly. Everything was so different without the Empire or First Order. It was good though. It was always so good.

"When I woke up I was as panicked as you," Luke admitted. "But someone had made sure that certain things happened. Han Solo never knew why he was offered the role of pilot for the Jedi, but I think Leia was glad for it. With your mother… well it was harder. I suspected Felicity, but I never knew and always worried that by trying to make sure you were born you wouldn't… I was right though, of course it was Felicity, and as you grew that much was obvious." Rey's mother-Rey had a mother. Luke must have seen the hope in her eyes because he nodded. "Yes, she's still alive. I'll introduce you, and to the rest of the family as well."

More family? "Padmé and I decided two just wasn't enough. You have your Aunt Shmi and her son Ranrig," Anakin was grinning. He knew how Rey felt about family. He knew that finding out how much family they had would thrill her. "Then Luke has you and the twins-Beru and Ben. I think you already met him." Rey had to apologize to her brother for not knowing him. That would be awkward.

"Ben," Rey interrupted. "Does that mean Obi-Wan…"

All three looked upset as they nodded. "He passed a few months before Ben was born," Luke told his daughter. Rey hadn't gotten to know the master well, but she missed him. "He was my master for real this time, but the name wasn't just for him. It was also for the Ben who died to save my daughter."

"Jacen," Padmé interrupted with a little grin that confused Rey. "That's your master's name, though you were close to your trials. He's Leia and Han's son, your cousin. Leia also has Jaina and Pema, who are twins as well." Padmé paused for a moment as if realizing for the first time how many sets of twins there were in her family. "If you ever have kids Rey, be prepared for two."

"Speaking of Jacen," Luke tried to hide his grin, but Rey noticed it. "He's probably looking for you. I'll help you find him."

Rey followed her father out, confused by her grandparents' giggles as much as anything else. "It's a lot to take in. Just when I was starting to remember one life as Reyna Skywalker now I have a whole other…"

Luke nodded. When he'd first arrived in the new future he'd been just as confused. "There are parts I miss too. Leia and I aren't as close in this time. I'm Grand Master, and she's busy as the Jedi liaison with the senate. And my aunt and uncle were alive, but they didn't know me at all. With all we gain we lose some too."

Rey thought of Finn and Poe. Hopefully they were out there somewhere, but where she had no idea. Finn wasn't his birth name after all, and if he wasn't raised as a Stormtrooper then he really wasn't the guy Rey knew. That hurt.

But at the same time her grandparents, her parents- they were alive. She had so much family, and a brilliant future as a Jedi. She certainly would not forget the life she lived on Jakku, but this, this could be her life as well.

How she was going to pass as a seasoned Padawan though, she had no idea. "Should we tell him, Jacen I mean, the truth? He's going to wonder how I regressed so much."

"I don't think you should. I'm sure you'll discover that the Force has given you a lot of knowledge that makes training from a young age obsolete. Besides… there are some things people just shouldn't be saddled with." Rey didn't understand what he meant until she rounded the corner to the training room and saw 'Jacen' humming a very special tune and sparing with Ben Skywalker.

Jacen's hair was long, black as a raven, and incurably messy. His face, while hard and sharp, smiled bright, no scar in sight. He turned to her, eyes twinkling, and laughed, "Benny said you'd lost your mind. Does that mean you're not up for sparring?"

Rey wasn't up for sparring. She was, however, up for running to her cousin, her Ben, and hugging him for the second time. "You alright kid?" he whispered in her ear. "Ben did say you were confused."

Of course she was confused, but Rey was also crying with joy. "I'd don't think I've ever been better. I love you, okay, don't ever go away."

"I won't," he promised, obviously confused, but getting the sense that she could use a good hug. "And even if I do, my little ray of light will guide me home, right?" Yes. Yes she would.

* * *

I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. I hope you enjoyed the story. I wrote it for fun and i hope you had fun too. Thank you all so much for reading, the response has been incredible. Thank you.


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